The most effective way to change your life is to change the way you think about yourself. You change who you are in your own mind. You change your identity.
When a person becomes a follower of Jesus Christ, they become a new person. They take on a new identity. They take off the old self and put on the new self. Deciding to follow Jesus is the most effective way to change your life.
When you become a follower of Jesus, you change where you direct your attention. You set your mind on things above. We resist the temptation to fixate on the worst parts of humanity and instead turn our attention to the best. Interestingly enough, when we turn our minds toward higher things, especially when we turn our minds toward Jesus, we come to think about ourselves differently. We take on a new identity.
We need to renew our new identity in Jesus every day. Even after we put on the new self, we tend to slip back into the old self. That is not a failure. It is simply part of the process. We have to remind ourselves every day who we are. Every morning we affirm our identity in Jesus.
In our sermon this Sunday we will take about doing new things with a new identity, not just new behaviors.