A New Creation

By James

I recently bought a new phone. It was long overdue because my old phone had lots of issues. The ringer didn’t work, the speakers didn’t work properly, and it had trouble charging. When I got my new phone, I realized I was using it as if it was still my old one. I had it on silent most of the time, I used headphones instead of the speaker, and I kept it close to a charger at all times.

I had a new phone, but I was stuck in my old ways.

Does that sound familiar? Think about your life and your ministry. Are you stuck in some area of your life? Take it to God, talk to your accountability partner about it, and talk to your sponsor about it.

Sometimes we are stuck because we re-create the chaos of our past life in our new one. We have to remember what 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (NLT).

When our identity is rooted in our hurts, hang-ups, and habits, we have to learn a whole new way of living. We wonder who the person is that we are becoming. We have to trust God and start living the life he designed for us. We also have to make sure we are listening to God to determine where he wants to take us with our new life.

Picture this. You take your car to an auto body repair shop and explain that you are having a lot of problems with it: “The car is making a funny sound. The lights don’t work. The A/C is only blowing hot air, and it doesn’t go above 50 mph. And that’s just the beginning of its problems.” But instead of letting them check out your vehicle, you say, “Well, I have to take my car and get going.” The mechanic might say, “Before you go, don’t you want me to take a look at it and then tell you how we might fix it?”

If we stay stuck in our old ways, we make the same mistake. What will you choose to do? Will you embrace the new life God has for you? Or will you re-create the chaos of your past and go your own way?