Day 6: Crushing The New You

For whatever reason, when you’re back around family or in old environments, it can be easy to fall back into old patterns. But if you are a believer in Christ*, you are not who you were.

Fight the temptation to act like the old you. And fight the temptation to be frustrated when family or old friends treat you like the old you. Even when it was time for Jesus to do miracles and walk in the role God had for Him as He’d grown older, He was met with doubt in His hometown and looked at like the little boy He’d been known as growing up (Mark 6:1-6).

If you find yourself in a similar situation this holiday season, love your friends and family, be patient with them, and practice self-control with your words and actions. God knows who you are, and your identity is secure. Let that be enough this year. For some of you, more than friends or family believing what God says about you is true, what you need most is to believe it yourself.

Read the following scriptures and answer the questions below.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Philippians 3:16 – Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Psalm 34:5 – Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.

1. If you have trusted Christ for salvation, do you believe that you are a new creation? In what ways do you still believe that you are the old you? (Pro-tip: Consider where you feel shame for what you’ve done in your past, old habits you fall back into, lies that you believe about yourself that are contrary to God’s Word)

2. Do you think that what God says about you is what matters most? Whose approval do you most desire outside of Christ’s? (Pro-tip: Read Galatians 1:10 for more here)

Pray: God help me to remember who I am in you, and to hold tightly to what I have learned and how I have grown. Thank you that my identity is secure. Help me to respond with kindness.

*To be a believer in Christ means you have admitted you are a sinner in need of a savior, you believe Jesus died on the cross and was raised to life again to offer eternal life to anyone who believes, and you have told people out loud that you believe Jesus is Lord. See Romans 10:9-10 and email info@theporch.live if you’d like more information on how to have a relationship with God.

Click Here For Day 5: Crushing Christmas Through Grief
Click Here For Day 7: Crushing It When There's Family Drama