I am told in the Bible that when I come to Christ I become a new creation. God has said He would change my heart of stone and He would give me a heart of flesh - soft and tender towards Him. These are God's miraculous acts of love toward me.
However, in Ephesians 4:17-24, Paul indicates that I also have a role to play in becoming the new creation God desires for me. He says "put off your old self" and be "renewed in the spirit of your minds".
Living the Christian life is not always easy. Every day I have choices to make about where I will go, how I will spend my time, what I will read, watch or think about. I also have attitudes about myself and about others that may need to be considered and adjusted. There may be people I need to forgive - or ask to forgive me.
Paul goes so far as to say I should be an "imitator of God". What little do I know about God to imitate? He is holy, He is love, He is faithful, He is forgiving, He is good, He is just, He shows mercy. Living up to that is something I can do only through the power of the Holy Spirit living within me. As I have grown and matured in my relationship with Jesus over the years some of this is easier than it once was, some of it even becoming part of who I really am in Christ. But this journey will last my entire life and I will not "arrive" until I pass from this life to the next to become another new creation.
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