Your new identity

"…Christ made us right with God; He made us pure and holy, and He freed us from sin." (1 Corinthians 1:30, NLT)  

Did you notice something, friend? You need Christ! He is your righteousness. If you look up the word "righteousness" in the dictionary, you'll find this explanation: "Righteousness is the quality or state of being morally correct and justifiable." It is so good to know that whoever belongs to Christ has been pronounced righteous! It's very difficult for us humans to understand this because we find a thousand reasons to contradict it. We'll think, "But I still make far too many mistakes…"

Yes, friend, and you will until the end. We ourselves will never manage to live justly and rightly. But that's where the beauty of God comes in, assuring us that we are righteous in God's eyes! He says so. Isn't His love profound?  

Please understand this incredible truth…everything changed for you at the cross! First of all, your sins were forgiven. "...You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead…" (Romans 7:4, NLT).  

Secondly, you also became a "new creation." Yes, this new creation still makes old mistakes, but the big difference is…God sees you through the eyes of love and what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross!

So we are to see ourselves differently! If we still see ourselves as sinners, it will be hard to experience new life. But if we accept this new identity that God is giving us, and see ourselves as HE sees us, then it will be easier for us to:

• Live from this new identity in a way that also pleases God and
• Accept forgiveness when we fall again.

As we've reached the end of this week, I'd like to ask you, "You can do this…would you like to do it?"

I encourage you to embrace this new identity, friend! Believe me—it's an identity that definitely suits you much better! :-)

You are a miracle!