My wife has been a thrift store shopper since I met her. She can find expensive, well-made clothes for just a few dollars. Now she has my oldest daughter hooked, and they often go shopping together. When they get home, they want to show me all of their new finds and tell me how much they spent. Choosing to follow Jesus is putting on the new life.
EPHESIANS 4:22-24
To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
A Fresh Start
You receive a new life when you put your faith in Jesus Christ. You have to take off the old one to put on that new life. It’s much like putting on a clean outfit and taking off the old dirty one, except this new outfit comes with more than any of your others. When you put on the new life, you are filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ righteousness is deposited into your heart, and you start the transformation of looking more like Jesus. Only Jesus offers this.
Put Off the Old Life
You can’t wear two outfits at the same time, and you can’t live two lives either. You have to put off the old life corrupt with sin and full of lies and desires. Flirting with your old temptations will only lead you down the wrong path. Even though God’s mercies are new every morning, that doesn’t mean the consequences will be removed. You will feel like a hypocrite and feel distant from Jesus.
Putting On the New Life
God’s goal is for you to look more like Jesus with each passing day. He wants you to grow in your trust and reliance upon Him and for the fruit of the Spirit to be evident. That is where the blessings, joy, and peace reside. Lingering in our old world will only bring misery and discontentment. Putting on the New Life and walking in it brings more than you can imagine.