Day 334/365- 2 Corinthians 5:17

"New>Better"

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)

For Christians, we are not who we used to be. We may not be where we want to be or where we think we should be but, we are not where we were. We are new creations. Old things have passed away & all things have become new.

This type of newness is not common. It can't be found anywhere else. We can't be made new by religion. We can't be made new by relationships. We can't be made new by success or fame. We can't be made new by ambition. We can't be made new by therapy. We can't be made new by advice. We can't be made new by behavior modification or self-help.

All of these things & more have the ability to make us better. And many of them do make us better. But we don't need better. We need new. Only Jesus makes us new. Only Jesus transforms. Only Jesus remakes. Only Jesus can do away with the old us & replace us with a new...well, us. We don't need to do better, be better, or try harder. We need to be made new.

So when it comes to how we think & live, do we try to do better or do we rest in the fact that we have been made new? One is based on our effort & the other is based on Christ's effort.

We will never arrive & be what we know we should be. But that's why Jesus came. Because we are desperate sinners who need to be made new.