Michelle and I got the chance to make a quick trip to Wilmington, NC a couple weeks ago. We slipped down for a Saturday to see a friend and her new baby, Finley. Even though it was short trip, it was a great day.

I am always amazed when I think about babies and the fact that God brings new life into this world in such an incredibly beautiful way. Seeing a baby often reminds me of a powerful truth from scripture.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17

This scripture always gives me great hope. Hope that my old, former self has been wiped away and that I have a clean slate to start over with. The kicker though is that one word at the start of passage, “Therefore.” I’ve found over the years that “therefore” is a pretty powerful word. It usually means that the next statement is the result of something. It also usually means I am overlooking something if I don’t know why “therefore” is part of the passage. When you put 2 Corinthians 5:17 into context with its surrounding passages, it brings the truth to its full light.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:14-20

Oh, now I get it…since I am alive I shouldn’t live for myself, but I should live for Christ. I have to die to myself, my desires, my wishes, my goals, my ambitions, my pride. Becoming a new creation is not a passive thing, it is fully active. It requires me to set aside everything that is me and fully embrace everything that is Christ. It requires me to be fully involved in seeking out what it means to live and love like Christ does. You know, the real clincher for all of this is that I already know this, but I often like to avoid it. I would much rather think about and pursue what I see as best for me. On the flip side, if I spent every moment of every day living for the one “who died for [us]” I would truly and undoubtedly be “Christ’s ambassador.”

Therefore, I urge us all to live for Christ, not ourselves; to set aside our goals and ambitions; to live and love as Christ does.