“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
You can’t step into who God created you to be while dragging around the corpse of who you used to be.
For a long time, I didn’t understand that.
I gave my life to Jesus. I believed in grace. I wanted to move forward.
But deep down, I was still holding on to every failure.
Every time I fell short. Every wrong turn. Every hidden regret.
I’d surrendered my life, but I hadn’t really surrendered my past.
It was like dragging around invisible chains.
Worshiping with my hands lifted, but my heart still shackled to who I used to be.
And honestly? I didn’t even realize how heavy it all was…
until I finally let it go.
The moment I handed it over — all of it —
not just the obvious sins, but the guilt, the shame, the image I was trying to protect…
it felt like a weight fell off me that I’d been carrying for years.
There was a freedom in surrender I’d never known before.
It wasn’t weakness. It was warfare — and I finally stopped fighting for control and started walking in grace.
This is the mistake so many of us make:
We try to carry what Christ already crucified.
We apologize for things He already forgave.
We disqualify ourselves from a calling He already confirmed.
But here’s the truth:
Jesus didn’t die to improve your past.
He died to bury it — and raise you brand new.
You are not defined by who you were.
You’re not the addiction.
You’re not the mistake.
You’re not the affair.
You’re not the abortion.
You’re not the bitterness or the bitterness that broke you.
You are redeemed.
You are remade.
You are a new creation.
And the enemy’s greatest tactic is keeping you blind to that.
Because as long as you live chained to who you were,
you’ll never walk in the authority of who you are.
So today — not tomorrow, not when you “feel better,” not once you’ve earned it —
today, lay it down.
Surrender the past.
Let go of the image.
Release the guilt.
You don’t need to earn God’s love.
You just need to receive it — and walk like someone who’s already free.
Because you are.
Reflect
- What shame, memory, or mistake do you keep revisiting that God already redeemed?
- How would your life look different if you truly believed you are not who you used to be?
- What’s stopping you from surrendering it all today?
Pray with us…
Jesus, I’ve been holding on to things You already died to take. I’ve let shame speak louder than truth. Today, I surrender — completely. My past. My failures. My self-image. My fear. I lay it all at Your feet and trust that I am who You say I am, not what I’ve done. Help me walk in the full freedom You’ve already won for me. In Your name, amen.
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