Your new life will cost you your old life

This one hits a bit hard today.  The title says it all. Your new life will cost you your old life. The Christian life promises us eternity and life with God, but it does call us to lay down our old life. Sometimes that's easy - when we first get saved, we are excited to give it all to God and serve Him with everything we are. But over time, and as we grow in our faith, God reveals to us areas of our heart that may not be fully surrendered to Him. Areas we need to work on, habits we need to drop, attitudes we need to let go of, and so on.

We might work on things as we get closer to God and make changes along the way through His grace, but each time we deal with one thing, something else will always pop up in it's place. There will always be something else to work on as long as we are on this side of Eternity because God is a refiner, and we are that gold and silver He's working on getting the impurities out of.

I think sometimes we struggle because we’re not ready to let go of some things. Something of the world might still have its hooks in us and we can't imagine what life would be like without that thing. Reminds me of that image (I'm sure you've seen it, but putting it in here to illustrate my point) of the little girl holding so tightly to her raggedy old teddy bear when Jesus has a much better one ready to give her if she would just let go.

What are you still holding on to? Is there something you feel God nudging you to surrender that you haven't yet? Is there something of your old life that still lingers and causes problems for you now? If this is a struggle you recognize in your life, I challenge you to journal about it. Write down the situation and really think through what is at the root of it. What is it that you are still holding on to and why? What do you gain by keeping that thing in your life? If the answer doesn't line up with God's Word or Christian living, then it may be time to surrender. Recognizing the issue and getting a clear picture of the root of it through journaling could be an important first step. Pray and ask God for His help as you surrender in this area of your life. His grace is enough! (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Let 2024 be the year to let go of the old and walk in the new life God promises through Jesus. It is always worth it. Nothing of our old life can hold a candle to what Jesus has in store for us.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17