Continuously Created

A Reflection on the Second Reading for July 7th, 2019:
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Galatians 6.14-18

Brothers and sisters: May I never boast of anything except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!

As for those who will follow this rule — peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

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On more than one occasion in his letters, Saint Paul describes people as "new creations" after they become believers in and followers of Christ. I find this both incredibly comforting and really puzzling. It's absolutely wonderful to know that God has created, is creating, and will continue to create something new in my life. Yet, I sometimes find it difficult to accept the fact that after I became a follower of Jesus I became a new creation. I can get so caught up in the day to day events and mistakes that I can't see the evidence of God's new creation in my life.  

But I know, and this reading reminds me, that I am not to define myself by what I have done or what I haven't done, but by what Christ has done for me on the cross. After we become Christians we do, in fact, become different people. Our identity is to be rooted in Christ. We are to define ourselves first as believers and everything else about us is to be secondary.

"We are to define ourselves first as believers and everything else about us is to be secondary."

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My perception of my own identity being rooted in Christ has been plagued by doubt. It can be so difficult to see evidence of the change and I can be so quick to criticize myself and focus on my failures. But God is patient and God is kind. I think the key for me has been to recognize that the new creation God is creating is revealed and refined over time. My own conversion has been gradual, slow, and messy, and it is ongoing. But God is faithful even when I am not. And when I step back and look at my life I see I am not the person I once was — I am, truly, a new creation. God has changed me, He is changing me, and He will continue to change me.  

This side of heaven the Kingdom of God is a work in progress — both in my life and in the world around me. Every day God invites me, in big ways and in small ways, to learn more about and accept my identity as a new creation — a well-loved child of God. He gives me the opportunity to learn more about Him and His character both as the Creator that delights in what He has created and as the Father who loves His children. He also gives me the opportunity to hear His voice through scripture, through prayer, through creation, or through the words of other believers. He invites me to listen as He says good things about me — that I am a new creation, a well-loved child of God. God invites, God calls, and God compels, but He doesn't force. It's up to me to decide if I want to accept my identity as a new creation. With His help I'm trying to learn how to do this more and more each day.

​Morgan MacKenzie

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