Shedding Your Old Life

Growing up in a Christian home definitely had its advantages; I wouldn't trade it for anything. One of the advantages was that, as a young kid, I learned that the Bible was true, Jesus was ruler over all, and that our lives were to be lived for Christ, and that's it--no questions asked. Even through my "rebellious" years...I had those truths instilled in me. I know this wasn't the case for everyone, so I'm praying for compassion and understanding when my fellow Christian friends act like (or sometimes flat-out say) they miss their old lives and are gripping on to their past like a 90-year-old grips the steering wheel while driving in the rain.

In Galatians, we are called to be crucified with Christ and thus give up our past and our old life, take up our cross and follow him. It's definitely never expressed as an easy task. Dying to our old lives can seem impossible at times. Our old lives, our old friends, our old activities, our old traditions--those can be hard to give up. They bring us comfort and change can be difficult. Part of the resilience to even acknowledge a religion or a God (i.e. atheists) stems from not wanting to give that up or be accountable to our actions.

Let's take a look at what our "comfortable" old lives symbolize: selfishness, pride, an eternity of punishment and separation from the one true God who gave his life for us. Is that really a life worth hanging on to? Is that true comfort? Does hanging on to an old lifestyle really bring joy and satisfaction? Is being one person on Sundays and another person on Monday through Saturday really a fulfilling lifestyle?

Any change will take time, discipline, and patience. Anything that's worth it does. Seek first God's kingdom and a joy beyond comprehension will be shown to you! A real, honest, perfect joy from the only real, honest, and perfect person to have ever lived.

"For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."-Galatians 2:18-20 (ESV)

Don't rebuild what you've torn down!

(*By "old life", I'm referring to life before the realization that Christ is sovereign and our lives are for his glory, not our own. It is the life that some continue to lead after the realization, just with an underlying guilt due to consciousness.)