Read: 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

Before anything else, a person must believe that when he/she comes to Christ he/she is a new creation. It is a do-over, a new day, a second chance – whatever you want to call it.

Read: Romans 8:12-14

Here is the next hard truth. We are declared a new creation in Christ. He sees us with fresh eyes that don’t hold against us anything we have done in the past or anything we will do in the future. The hard part is joining with him in this new life. The old ways of living often pull at us, but Paul reminds us that we have no obligation to do what that old person used to do! We will have to find new friends, new activities, new ways of living. Or we will stay in the slum of life.

Do you believe you are a new person in Christ? Do the old ways pull at you? Perhaps you are trying to do it alone. Paul reminds us that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can put those desires to death. You don’t have to go at it alone.