August 13 🌿 “WHO GOD SAYS I AM” I AM A NEW CREATION 📖 2 Corinthians 5:17 (LLV) — “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We carry memories of who we once were. Choices we regret. Words we wish we could take back. Failures we would rather forget. Sometimes the past speaks loudly. It tells us, “This is who you are.” But God says something different. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say we become a slightly improved version of ourselves. He says, “a new creation.” The gospel is not simply God repairing a few damaged places in our lives. In Christ, He gives us a new identity. “The old has passed away.” That does not mean our memories disappear. It does not mean our past choices never had consequences. But it does mean they no longer have the authority to tell us who we are. Our failures do not have the final word. Our shame does not have the final word. Our past does not have the final word. Christ does. “Behold, the new has come.” God is still working. Still changing. Still teaching. Still transforming. Some changes happen immediately. Others unfold slowly as we learn to walk in the new life Christ has given us. There may be days when we do not feel very new. But our identity does not depend upon how new we feel. It depends upon what God has declared to be true. In Christ, we belong to Him. In Christ, we are forgiven. In Christ, we are being transformed. In Christ, we are new. A new beginning receives a new identity: my past is part of my story, but because I am in Christ, it no longer gets to tell me who I am. Reflection: Is there something from my past that I still allow to define me more strongly than what God says about who I am in Christ? Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that in Christ I am a new creation. Help me release the failures, regrets, and labels of my past that I continue to carry. Teach me to see myself according to Your grace rather than yesterday's mistakes. Continue Your transforming work within me, and help me walk today in the new life You have given me. In Jesus' name, Amen.