New

New is a great word. We all want something new. And the idea of being new ourselves, that sounds really good. So the fact that the Bible, including in today’s reading (Ephesians 4) promises we can be new, that’s good stuff. I want Verve to be a church where people become new and act new.

But the sad truth is that many Christians don’t. So why is that? I think because it’s a choice. That’s why we’re instructed throughout Eph 4 to “live a life worthy of the calling” and “to put off your old self” and “to be made new in the attitude of your minds” and “to put on the new self.” None of that is automatic.

The interesting one, I think, is the “to be made new in the attitude of your minds.” That’s not talking so much about our knowledge as our attitudes. And that’s critical, because what we care about is actually more important than what we know. Right? You may know that you should floss, but you don’t anyway. You may know you should stop smoking, but you keep puffing away.

Your attitudes, what you care about, your passions, are more important than your knowledge. And so we need to be made new in the attitude of our minds. We need to become passionate about becoming new. And if we don’t, we’ll never really put on our new self’s.