New Beginnings

"For if we have been united together in likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should  no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with HIm, knowing that christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 6:5-11

"For sin shall now have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace."  Romans 6:14

Reading these verses this morning really gave me a different perspective on the concept that when we are alive with Christ our sins are washed away.

I don't know if you have ever felt this way, but for a very long time it was hard for me to ever grasp that concept. I always felt like it was wrong to let go of my sins and think of them as "washed away". To me, that was wrong because I felt like I deserved to dwell on my mistakes and inwardly punish myself. I knew that God had forgiven me and that my sins were "washed away". I mean, I read the verses, and I sang about it, but I didn't know it.

Just within the last few months God has been teaching me to let go. If we are truly sorry for what we have done, God has forgiven us. So, let's let go. Let go of past mistakes. Let go of the thoughts that tell us that we're a failure and that we'll never get this right. Let go of caring what other people think of us. If we don't we are throwing away the gift Jesus Christ gave us when He suffered on the cross.

Every day is a new day, a new beginning. You have a fresh chance every day to be a better person than you were yesterday. So, grasp on to the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ and let it set you free!