What does it mean to be born again? Why do Christians call themselves that?
Like the moment of our physical birth, there’s a specific point and moment in which a person becomes born again.
It starts with realizing that no matter how hard we try, there are areas of our lives that we just cannot overcome: sinful behaviours, attitudes, harmful and toxic thoughts, addictions, – by our own efforts or by our will power alone. We’ve tried, and we failed. At that moment, we acknowledge the guilt and shame of our moral failures and deliberate selfish actions (sin) have kept us bound with no way out.
When we come to the realisation that God loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross as payment for the penalty for our sin, we ask Him for forgiveness. And we go one step further – we turn our backs and walk away from our old sinful lifestyle and turn our faces toward Him. As we surrender the good, bad and the ugly – all of us to Him, including our messes and our triumphs, we become new creations.
The moment of being born-again is not a slow, drawn-out process, it is the Great Exchange that takes place in an instant. We give Him our old, He gives us His new. Our spirit is reborn, we are resurrected with Him. We are a new creation, and our old man is dead. Our old broken life has been exchanged and laid down in exchange for His new and eternal life. FREEDOM. It is now our responsibility to seek out how to take advantage of this new start – this new day – and live this new life with Jesus as our leader and constant helper.
If you desire that sort of freedom, a fresh start, click here to send me a message!
Another article I wrote might help you understand the difference between sin and simply making a mistake or a foolish choice.
©2022 Katherine Walden