New Year, KNOW YOU
The old familiar cliché, “New Year, New Me” is just that—old—and quite frankly, overused and misunderstood. “New Me” implies that there existed an “old Me.” But what did the old me look or act like? What makes me even want to be a new version of me? Why did I not like the old me? What must I do to create a “New me?”
You can try to change a few things to be better, but if you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you will never truly experience a new you. Settle that first. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things passed away, behold, new things have come.”
When you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, a spiritual transformation occurs. The Christian possesses a new nature… a New You… as opposed to the old fleshy one. You receive a fresh existence with a brand-new family, new motivations, values, and possessions.
Now, the old nature remains in the new life and still expresses itself in corrupting deeds such as lying, cheating, stealing, overeating, etc. So, the new nature must be cultivated by a decision to grow in Christlikeness.
The real problem lies in the fact that so many Christians do not know who they are. You must first KNOW YOU! Until you realize you and your position in Christ, you may still function as the Old You doing the same old things you desire to change.
In John 13, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God, rose from supper with His disciples. He laid aside His garments and took a towel to wash their feet. Simon Peter rejected His offer until Jesus informed him that without the washing, Peter would not have any part of Him. Peter replied, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head”. Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet…“ (John 13:9-10). Christ bathed you (made you new), but you may need parts of you washed in order to be and do better.
Jesus fulfilled all that He came to do, even bowing low to wash His disciples’ feet because Jesus knew who He was. He knew what He had been given. He knew where He came from. He knew to whom and where He was going back to.
This question confronts you: Do you KNOW YOU? Do you know who you are? Do you know what you have been given? Do you know where you came from? Do you know to whom and where you will be going back to? As a child of God, do you KNOW YOU?
So, in 2024, forget the “New You,” and focus on KNOW YOU. You just might find that whatever needs fixing, Jesus will make all things new!
I don’t know about you, but I KNOW who I am, whose I am, what I’ve been given, where I came from and where I will go back to when this life is over. I just want to be better and do better. As a Christian, I am already made new, and I will continue to allow Jesus to chip away at the parts in my old nature that need to be conformed to His image… Why? Simply …
