Once, I was reaching 300lbs a few years ago, and a combination of doctor-induced fear, some rigid diet, and unknowingly acquiring Type 1 Diabetes, I lost more than 100 lbs. I was emaciated and sunken in until I realized I was diabetic, got it 'under control', and put on the healthy amount of weight I needed.
It was an incredible amount of weight loss, and by all means, I was a new person. I had more energy. I could wear clothes I was never able to before. I felt the incredible effects of being a new person.
But there are days I look in the mirror and see the 'big me'. There are days I can only see the old me and it is discouraging. Those are the days my eyes and brain see and believe something that no longer exists. That was the old me, but some days I still that person.
I have a student who has come out of a life of sexual sin, and she has become a new person in Christ with the freedom, redemption and mercy that comes with it.
But there are days she remembers her past and feels the shame and guilt once more. There are days she makes her past a point of residence instead of simply a point of reference.
How often we come into this!
We are promised in God's word that once we come to Jesus, He makes us a new creation. We die to our old self. Our old self is no more. We are and continue to be new creations.
But there are days we remember our old self and feel ashamed and guilty. We become stand-offish with Jesus, and forget THAT person is dead. That person is gone, and we are made NEW!
"Oh that believers would stop looking at their old nature so much!"
