Do you have a new years resolution? A goal you want to achieve or a habit you hope to form in the coming year?
New Years is a great time to set goals, because it feels like a fresh start. We leave the past behind us and start over with a brand new year, a brand new calendar, and—we like to think—a brand new us!
But if you’re anything like me, you’ve discovered that there’s nothing magical about the New Year that suddenly enables you to change. You’re still the same person with the same weaknesses and bad habits.
Sure, you might be able to change a few externals, like the number on the scale or the words you speak, but you can’t change your heart.
And as much as you want to put the past behind you and start over, moving from one calendar year into the next doesn’terase the past.
But thank God, He has made a way for us to start over: He offers us a fresh start in Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (ESV)
When Jesus died on the cross, He died in your place—taking the punishment you deserved for your sins.
And if you respond to that truth by believing in Him and repenting—asking Him to forgive you and to be Lord of your life—then you will saved.
God will remove the “old”—erasing the record of your sins and replacing it with something “new” and better: His own righteousness.
And not only will you have a fresh start, you’ll be a brand new person—one who can actually take advantage of that fresh start by living differently.
You see, if you accept Christ, the Holy Spirit (who is God) will come to live inside you. And He will change you from the inside: enabling you to resist sins and live for God!
And this is just a tiny glimpse of the fresh start God offers you in Jesus Christ. So let me ask you…
Do you need a fresh start?
If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ, let today be the day you accept Him and start life over. (If you want to know more about accepting Christ, please click here). Making this decision is the best way to start the New Year!
And if you have already accepted Christ, are you living like you’re a new creation? Or are you still letting your past define you?
Ask God to help you see yourself the way He sees you: Completely forgiven with a heavenly Father who loves you unconditionally; a new creation who can make different, God-honoring choices through the power of the Holy Spirit!
Accepting Jesus changes everything. And better yet, it changes you.