A couple of the things you can count on in Southeast Georgia is brutally hot weather in the summer and unpredictable weather in the winter. This consistently unpredictable pattern caused a change in our Christmas break plans last year (wow, it felt a little odd saying last year). We were geared up and ready to bundle up in ski jackets with layers underneath to stay warm while heading down the slopes. I was pretty pumped to ski for the first time, knowing I would probably come back home with a few extra accessories in the shape of a leg brace. Simply because I’m a dude and I have to make sure I went down the biggest mountain there. In my mind, there was no question this trip was going to happen. It was cold enough for my wife to break out her winter coat a couple of weeks prior. So for sure it would be cold enough to blow fake snow on the mountains to ski down, right…

Yeah, not so much. The week we were planning on being in 32-degree weather, it ended up being 82-degrees. Instead of sliding down a snowy hill on my rear, I was sitting on my backside in the sand at the beach.  Instead of ski suits and snow boots, I was in swim trunks and flip-flops. Instead of, well, I think you get the point. It was a radical change. There was no trace of the cold that was there only weeks prior. You would never have known the cold was even here.

I’m not complaining at all! I love the warm weather. I hate the snow almost as much as I hate Walmart. But this 180-degree change made me think of the change that happens in our life through Christ. And this is something Christians have such a hard time with. Including myself.

We can’t seem to see ourselves as Christ sees us. We can’t seem to forgive ourselves or walk in the forgiveness we’ve received. This is a major issue in the church today. A lot of us are forgiven, but we’re not walking in the joy of our forgiveness or don’t see the hope in our future because our minds are walking in a condemned past while our souls are in a forgiven present. It would be like me taking all of my ski gear to the beach and trying to snow ski in 80-degree weather even though the trip got cancelled. No one would look at me stand on the beach at Jekyll Island with a ski suit on and ski’s on my feet and say, “oh yeah, that guys normal”. It just doesn’t make sense. But that’s exactly what we have a tendency to do.  Christ has made a change in our life, now we have to live in the change He made.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (HCSB) says,

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.

When you gave your life to Jesus, you became a brand new creation.

I used to have a really ugly car. I mean ugly. I don’t think you understand just how ugly I’m talking about. It was a Ford Focus. Ehhh, that may be ok, but the color! It was somewhere in between gold, orange, and dirty diaper. It was just bad. And what made it even worse was how many dents were in this thing, and how much duct tape was on the driver’s side door to keep the side view mirror from falling off. Every time something happened I did what I had to do to cover up the flaw. It didn’t really work, but I tried. One day, I got hit on the way to work and it completely messed up the side of my focus. My first thought was, “Dang, that’s going to take a lot more duct tape than I have.” But the insurance company came by and said my car was totaled. Then they gave me a check to buy a new vehicle! They paid for it all.

That’s exactly what Christ did for us. We tend to think He buffed out some dents and there’s a lot of duct tape covering up our flaws, but 2 Corinthians tells us because of Jesus we are made brand new! When God looks at us, He’s not looking at the old car, He’s not looking at the snow that was supposed to happen. He’s looking at the brand new creation that Jesus paid for. There’s not a trace of the old. You would have never known it was there!

Walk in the forgiveness you’ve received. Forgive yourself for the past you’ve been forgiven. When satan, our spiritual enemy, tries to tell you, “I know who you are. I know what you did.” Remind yourself, “What I did is not who I am. I am a new creation in Christ”. He saw what you were and He chose you anyway. You’re chosen by God and valuable to God (Ephesians 1:4). You are completely forgiven (Ephesians 1:7).

Because I accepted the change that happened, I had a wonderful “staycation” with my wife this week. We enjoyed time together that never would have happened if I would have kept looking for something that wasn’t there. I just want to encourage you at the beginning of 2016 to live in the change Christ has made in your life. Put the ski’s away and enjoy the beach!