We just got back from leading worship at the SDYG (Sandol) Winter Retreat! It was a great time of honoring the Lord and lifting up His name. The theme of the retreat was “New Life”, which is funny because yesterday at church I preached about a similar idea. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Through Jesus Christ’s resurrection, our sins are forgiven. The only catch is that we’d have to take off our “grave clothes”. The new has come! Paul boldly says in Romans: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” and I believe that this is what we ought to do with these “new lives”.

Which leads us back to Shameless Plug: this idea of being renewed and unashamed in Christ, having a new life to live for God, and shamelessly exemplifying Jesus… it’s a bold statement! So especially in this season of Lent, let’s not get so bent on what we’re “giving up” but let’s remember the cross when we give it up as we strive to do everything for God – because Jesus gave up everything for us.