Author: mary

2 Corinthians 5:17 is one of the best promises in the Christian life! “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” When someone comes to know Christ they are completely made new; the old is gone and the new has come!

Has there ever been anything you wanted to redo? Maybe you said something or did something to someone and you regret it. Maybe you lived in sin. Jesus came to give us new life and restoration. We get a new start. It is not very often in this life that we get to redo something, yet, when we accepted the gift of salvation, that is what God did, He gave us new life.

Your new life should not have the characteristics of your old life, but instead you should look like a new person. This is not necessarily something that happens overnight, but with time. God is constantly changing us into the person He wants us to be. Spend time in prayer today and ask God to continue to make you new.

As Christians, it is not our job to judge others. We are to live as Jesus lived, yet we are not to judge those around us. 2 Corinthians 5:16 says, “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!”

Before you knew Christ, you only had head knowledge about Him. You only knew what you could understand and nothing more. You saw Him through human, fleshly eyes. When you came to know the salvation of Christ, you began to see Him differently. Now, you saw Him through the Father’s eyes, spiritual eyes. You saw Him as Savior and Lord.

We must see others through the same eyes that we see Jesus. They are the creation of God, after all. We are not meant to judge them or evaluate their lives. We are meant to show them the same grace and mercy that Christ shows them. Isn’t that how we want others to view us as well?

Christ’s death and resurrection was for every person on this earth: past, present, and future. This does not mean that every person will accept Him, but He died for all. There is no discrimination against anyone. However, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:15, we must receive this new life and live for Him (“He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them”).

Since you have received His great gift of salvation, you are free to live for Him. He died for you so that you will live for Him instead of yourselves. What does that look like? It means spending time with Him everyday in prayer and study of His Word. It means joining together with other believers in fellowship and worship. It means sharing the gospel with those around you so they will experience new life.

A new life looks different than the old life. If you are a new believer, then you are a new creation with a new life. Your old life cannot look similar to your old life. Instead, it must be transformed.

What drives you in your relationships with others? Is it common interests? Is it your history with them? What about love? Are your relationships grounded in love? Everything we do in this Christian life should be grounded in love. The relationships we have with others and the way we act toward them should scream love. We need to allow God’s love to control us as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:14, “Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.”

Christ’s love for us should be the driving force behind everything we do. It should be the reason we share Jesus with those we love. It should be the reason we serve others. As 1 Corinthians 13:3 states, “If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.” Love is the motivation for the Christian. If you try and serve others but do not have love, then your service means nothing to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 13 ends by saying, “Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love.” Love is what binds everything together. It is the greatest of all other qualities. God’s love covers all else.

2 Corinthians 5:11 says that “Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.” Our mission as Christians should be to persuade others to come to know the saving grace of Jesus.

The word persuade means to prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging according to Dictionary.com. When we witness to others, we should do so in such a way as to advise them or urge them. There has to be a sense of urgency when we talk to others. We have to see them in light of eternity: saved or not saved. If those we love are not saved, then we have to have a sense of urgency for their salvation.

Who do you long to see saved? Do you have family or friends who need to know Jesus as Lord and Savior? Do you have a sense of urgency for them? Pray and ask God today to give you a longing for others’ salvation.