Renewal Begins With Who You Already Are
“…since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self.” - Colossians 3:9b–10a (CSB)
One of the most exhausting ways to live the Christian life is trying to become someone God has already declared you to be.
Paul begins this passage by grounding renewal in something settled. He does not tell believers to put off the old self as a goal they are chasing. He tells them they have already done so. The same is true of the new self. This is not potential language. It is identity language.
That distinction matters more than we often realize.
Many of us approach spiritual growth as if God is waiting for us to get our act together before He can really work. We assume change begins with effort, discipline, and improvement. So we carry a quiet pressure to perform our way forward, hoping obedience will eventually earn peace.
But Paul flips that assumption completely.
Renewal does not begin with behavior. It begins with belonging.
You did not clean yourself up in order to belong to Christ. You were united with Christ, and that union changed who you are. When He died, you died. When He rose, you rose. That reality is already settled, even if your experience of it still feels uneven.
This is where many believers get stuck. When identity is unclear, obedience becomes crushing. You either live in pride, assuming you’ve arrived, or in despair, assuming you never will. But the gospel allows neither. It tells you something decisive has already happened, and something ongoing is still happening.
You are new. And you are being renewed.
That tension is not a problem to fix. It is the normal Christian life. Salvation is instantaneous. Sanctification is gradual. And confusing those two leads to constant frustration with God and with yourself.
God is not asking you to earn what Christ has already secured. He is inviting you to live from it. Renewal begins when you stop striving to prove yourself and start trusting what God has declared true about you.
Reflection Question
Where have you been trying to earn growth instead of living from the identity Christ has already given you?
Renewal does not begin with effort. It begins with identity.
Prayer
Father, thank You that my standing with You is not fragile or earned. Help me stop striving to become what You have already declared me to be in Christ. Teach me to live from grace, not pressure, and to trust that You are faithfully at work in me. Amen.
One of the most exhausting ways to live the Christian life is trying to become someone God has already declared you to be.
Paul begins this passage by grounding renewal in something settled. He does not tell believers to put off the old self as a goal they are chasing. He tells them they have already done so. The same is true of the new self. This is not potential language. It is identity language.
That distinction matters more than we often realize.
Many of us approach spiritual growth as if God is waiting for us to get our act together before He can really work. We assume change begins with effort, discipline, and improvement. So we carry a quiet pressure to perform our way forward, hoping obedience will eventually earn peace.
But Paul flips that assumption completely.
Renewal does not begin with behavior. It begins with belonging.
You did not clean yourself up in order to belong to Christ. You were united with Christ, and that union changed who you are. When He died, you died. When He rose, you rose. That reality is already settled, even if your experience of it still feels uneven.
This is where many believers get stuck. When identity is unclear, obedience becomes crushing. You either live in pride, assuming you’ve arrived, or in despair, assuming you never will. But the gospel allows neither. It tells you something decisive has already happened, and something ongoing is still happening.
You are new. And you are being renewed.
That tension is not a problem to fix. It is the normal Christian life. Salvation is instantaneous. Sanctification is gradual. And confusing those two leads to constant frustration with God and with yourself.
God is not asking you to earn what Christ has already secured. He is inviting you to live from it. Renewal begins when you stop striving to prove yourself and start trusting what God has declared true about you.
Reflection Question
Where have you been trying to earn growth instead of living from the identity Christ has already given you?
Renewal does not begin with effort. It begins with identity.
Prayer
Father, thank You that my standing with You is not fragile or earned. Help me stop striving to become what You have already declared me to be in Christ. Teach me to live from grace, not pressure, and to trust that You are faithfully at work in me. Amen.
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