By Brittany Chaunte'
I struggled a lot with guilt. Before I came to Christ, I had what I like to call a very colorful past. I had done A LOT of mess. It was to the point where I was having a hard time just accepting the change that God made in my life. Many Christians are in the same boat, not able to fully come to terms with their new life in Christ because of their shame. When you don’t recognize who you’ve become, it’s hard to accept all the things that God has given you. We must release who we told ourselves we are in order to receive the newness and power of a relationship with Christ.
Our Bible teaches us that once we come to Christ, old things are passed away and all things are new. That means our nature, our slate, our name, our being. We are a new person altogether. Once we get passed who we used to be, we can truly receive the gifts that God has given us. There is so much freedom and power in truly taking the time to accept what He has given. And what He has given is unmerited. There is nothing that we have to do in order to receive the new life that God has promised us.
Ephesians 2:1-10: 1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
In this season of releasing and receiving, we have to release the idea that God grants us new life based on who we are; nothing we can do will be enough to measure up to that. We must be open to receive His love just because He is that merciful.
Romans 8:1-39
2 Corinthians 5:17
Ephesians 1:5-12
Our Bible teaches us that once we come to Christ, old things are passed away and all things are new. That means our nature, our slate, our name, our being. We are a new person altogether. Once we get passed who we used to be, we can truly receive the gifts that God has given us. There is so much freedom and power in truly taking the time to accept what He has given. And what He has given is unmerited. There is nothing that we have to do in order to receive the new life that God has promised us.
Ephesians 2:1-10: 1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
In this season of releasing and receiving, we have to release the idea that God grants us new life based on who we are; nothing we can do will be enough to measure up to that. We must be open to receive His love just because He is that merciful.
Romans 8:1-39
2 Corinthians 5:17
Ephesians 1:5-12
