The “New Creation” you is the real you. You must believe in the new you. How will you ever become the person you know you are deep down, if you don’t become a believer in the new you?
It is not as easy as you might think, because the first step is to STOP believing in the old you! We literally have to clear the way for the Lord. Otherwise we are liable to sabotage all of His efforts to bring forth that beautiful version of you scripture calls the New Creation.
Why this is Important
Here’s how this works. The Lord says His righteous ones (that’s you, if you believe in Jesus) are “bold as lions.” But you say, “Oh, I can’t do that. I’m too shy about getting in front of people.” Or, the Lord says you have a heart like His (aka, the “new heart” He placed in us at conversion). But you say, “Forgive that person from the heart? Maybe You can, but I can’t!” Sound familiar? Seems to me some of us believe in the “old man” more than we believe in the new.
Let’s face it: We have known the “old man” version of ourselves much longer and more intimately than we have known ourselves as truly new creations. We know the feelings that swallow us whole and only spit us out days later. We know our failings, our weaknesses and our typical faults. Where is the new creation in all of this?
Drawing out the New Creation
It is the gift of faith that God uses to create the New Creation. The essence of the new you is the reality that there is now someone on the inside of you who knows who Jesus is AND who believes in Him. That changes everything! Or at least it will, once you allow it to take over. Right now it may only be Thumbelina size. It may look to you more like David up against Goliath.
The “Old You” Is No Match for the New You
Speaking of Goliath, the Goliath of your “old self” will take over when you stop trusting God. That’s because the new you is a gift of faith. The new version of you only emerges from the hidden depths when you fully surrender to Jesus as your Lord and Leader.
As we yield to God, the Holy Spirit lifts and leads us into the new way of life. The slightest pulling back from trust and obedience resuscitates the old man. Major mistake! Trusting God–not just believing in Him–is our key to victory. And getting our eyes back on Jesus is the key to recovering our trust in God. He doesn’t see you as the old you. His eyes are on the true you! See “How Does God See Us?”
Strongholds of Resistance
The former self digs in deeper when we cling to false ideas of ourselves. The world, our flesh, and life experiences shaped that false image of self. We keep that dead man alive by seeing ourselves by the past. God’s Word says that deep down, you and I are now (by faith) united to Christ. Union with Jesus fills our future with limitless possibilities.
Consider this: Jesus is the most fearless and forgiving Person in the Universe. You are now united to Him. The new you is exactly like Him. This means that anything that doesn’t look like Jesus in you, isn’t the new you. Between here and heaven it’s got to go! My stance is that what came in can go out and the sooner the better.
Unshackle the New You
Below is a list of typical things that “came in” due to the enemy’s work on us. These may be in you, but they are NOT YOU. First, make sure with each one that you see it is not in Jesus. Then, make sure that you see that in Jesus there really is a new you, united to Him, waiting and wanting to come forth.
Then, go slowly over each one. Maybe it has been in you for as long as you can remember. Just the same, God didn’t put it in you when He created you. Nor, is it the new you He is re-creating through faith in Christ. So, make sure you break all agreements with it as having anything to do with who you really are now that Jesus is in you.
Renounce the Old You
- Nervous energy (anxious feelings)
- Perfectionism (people pleasing/fear of man)
- Addictive personality (compulsions)
- Driven to achieve/succeed (self salvation)
- Flashes of anger (hot temper)
- Excessive sensitivity (too easily hurt)
- Timidity or shyness (fear of rejection)
- Deep wellsprings of grief over losses
- Feelings of persistent loneliness
- Depression, heaviness of heart
- Nuclear reactivity (panic mode)
- Impatience (prickly, irritable edges)
- Stubbornness (pride and rebellion)
- Impulse to control or be in control
The Way Forward
As you confess and repent of believing in these aspects of the “old you,” turn to the Lord and cast these cares on Him. Let Him be the one who does the heavy lifting when it comes to getting these old ways out of your life. Your part is to trust Him to go to work and to believe the truth about you by renouncing the lie that anything of the old you is the real you–no matter how often it may show up. Then, do what the Spirit shows you to break the pattern.
Let me give you a for instance out of my life. When I came to faith I was terribly shy. I had ALWAYS been shy and was scared to death at the idea of speaking in public. But I looked up to Jesus and said, “I can see there is no shyness in You and since You are now in me, all this shyness has to go.” It took years of prayer and of doing the next right thing, even if I was afraid. But no one who knows me now believes that I was ever shy. You can read that short bio story here.
There’s more to the New Creation you than can fit in this article. Learn more about “Our New Identity” at our website for healing, healingstreamsusa.org.
About the Author: Steve Evans
For over a decade Steve Evans and Healing Streams have been helping people recover inner peace and freedom. Find out how to gain mastery over negative emotions and live with childlike freedom of spirit by taking his completely free "eCourse for Healing" at healingstreamsusa.org. Get started now!
