This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s Message: An Ambassador of Forgiveness (Youth Rally Wrap) (WATCH HERE)
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!”
If you were handed a blank name tag and asked to write one word that describes you, what would you write?
Many of us would be tempted to write something that reflects our greatest failure or deepest insecurity. We may not literally write “Failure,” “Guilty,” “Ashamed,” or “Not Enough,” but those labels often become the quiet soundtrack of our lives. We replay past mistakes. We remember hurtful words. We carry regrets that seem impossible to escape. Over time, those experiences begin to define us.
Satan loves to hand out those name tags. He is called “the accuser” for a reason. He wants you to believe that your worst sin is your truest identity. If he can convince you that you will always be the person who failed, then he has succeeded in keeping your eyes off of Christ.
But God has something entirely different to say.
Paul writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Notice what he does not say. He does not say, “If anyone tries harder…” or “If anyone cleans up their life…” or “If anyone finally gets everything together…” He says, “If anyone is in Christ.”
That changes everything.
The Holy Spirit has united you to Christ through the Gospel. In your Baptism, He claimed you as God’s own child. Through the Word, He continues to strengthen your faith. Through absolution, He speaks Christ’s forgiveness directly into your ears. Through the Lord’s Supper, He places into your hands the very body and blood that purchased your salvation. Again and again, the Holy Spirit reminds you that your standing before God does not rest on your performance but on Christ’s perfect righteousness.
Imagine wearing a name tag that says, “Guilty.” Then someone removes it and replaces it with another that says, “Forgiven.” That is more than positive thinking. It is God’s declaration. Because Jesus carried your guilt to the cross, the Father no longer identifies you by your sin. He identifies you by His Son.
The old has gone.
That old identity, condemned under the Law, has been crucified with Christ. The new has come.
You are forgiven.
You are God’s beloved child.
You are a new creation.
This does not mean you will never struggle with sin again. The old sinful nature still clings to us in this life. There are days when the old name tag seems easier to believe than the new one. Yet every day the Holy Spirit calls you back to your Baptism, where the old Adam is drowned and the new person rises to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
Martin Luther encouraged Christians to begin each day by remembering their Baptism. Why? Because Baptism is not merely something that happened once. It is God’s continuing promise that you belong to Christ. When guilt whispers, “You’ll never change,” God answers, “You are My child.” When shame says, “You are still the same person,” God declares, “You are a new creation.”
So today, ask yourself this question: Which name tag are you wearing? The one the world gives? The one your conscience keeps writing? Or the one Christ has already given you?
There is only one that tells the truth.
Reflect: What labels or failures are you tempted to let define your identity instead of Christ’s forgiveness? How does remembering your Baptism and God’s declaration that you are His child change the way you face today?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son to bear my guilt and remove the shame of my sin. Through Your Holy Spirit, remind me each day that I am not defined by my failures but by Christ’s forgiveness. Help me to live confidently as Your beloved child and as a new creation in Jesus. When I am tempted to listen to the accusations of Satan or my own conscience, turn my eyes again to the cross and to the promises You have given me in Your Word and Sacraments. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.