SPEAKER_00: It's easy to believe your past defines your future.
SPEAKER_00: We vividly remember our failures and regrets, and we begin to think those things will always define us.
SPEAKER_00: But that is not how God sees his children.
SPEAKER_00: In 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Paul writes, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.
SPEAKER_00: The old has gone, the new is here.
SPEAKER_00: Those are powerful words, words Paul understood better than most.
SPEAKER_00: Before following Jesus, he persecuted Christians and fiercely tried to destroy the church.
SPEAKER_00: Yet God transformed him into one of the greatest voices of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: The same God who gave Paul a new beginning is still making lives new today.
SPEAKER_00: In Christ, your past is no longer your identity.
SPEAKER_00: His grace is writing a new story.
SPEAKER_00: Begin by thanking God for the new life he has given you through Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Praise him specifically for areas of your life where you have witnessed his redeeming work.
SPEAKER_00: Now bring before God the place where you long for a fresh start.
SPEAKER_00: It may be a regret you still carry, a relationship that needs healing, or an area where you've lost hope.
SPEAKER_00: Tell him honestly what is on your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Ask him to renew your faith, remind you of his promises, and help you trust that his grace is still at work, even when you cannot yet see the outcome.
SPEAKER_00: Let these words settle into your heart.
SPEAKER_00: The old has gone, the new is here.
SPEAKER_00: Not someday, but here.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.