PROLEPSIS | Tuesday | 8/18

You Are Not Stuck

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!”

Your past matters.

But it does not get the final word.

One of the most hopeful realizations we can have is that what has been does not determine what must be.

Maybe anger has characterized your relationships for years. That doesn’t mean it always will.

Maybe your family never practiced forgiveness. You can.

Maybe you have never thought of yourself as generous, patient, hospitable, or courageous.

That doesn’t mean you cannot become those things.

The Christian life is not an endless repetition of yesterday. Resurrection means something genuinely new is possible.

But Christianity goes even further than simply telling us, “You can become a better version of yourself.” Our hope is not ultimately found by looking deeper within ourselves and discovering some hidden potential.

Our hope has a face.

Our hope has a name.

Jesus.

We are not merely becoming better versions of ourselves.

We are being made like Him.

Reflect

Where have you quietly assumed, “This is just the way I am”?

What might change if you believed Christ could actually make something new in you?

Prayer

Jesus, thank you that my past does not determine my future. Where I have become resigned to destructive habits or patterns, remind me that resurrection means something new is possible. Continue forming me into your likeness. Amen.