The moment we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God forgives our sins, and He gives us a brand new life in Him. God has given us a new nature that is not under sin but under His righteousness. God puts the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ in us so that He can accept us in His presence. Before we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we only have our sinful nature in us. As a result, we are lost in our sin. We are all separated from God and have no relationship with Him because of our sin. There is no amount of good works that we can do to be accepted by God. We fall short of the righteousness of God. However, God came to die for our sin so that by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can receive the righteousness of God in us and a nature that is no longer under sin, but under the righteousness of God.
Since we receive the new nature from God, we are now a new person. We can now say no to sin and live for our God. However, our old nature under sin is still in us, and Satan uses our old nature to tempt us to sin. Consequently, our new nature and old nature are fighting for dominance in our lives. This is the reason you have the desire to obey or disobey God. For example, we know that cheating is a sin. However, when we go to school and have an exam that we did not have time to study for, we are tempted to cheat by copying someone else's answer or using our prepared cheat sheets. Satan is using our old nature to tempt us to cheat so that we can sin against God. On the other hand, the Spirit of God who is at work with our new nature tells us not to cheat, and that cheating is sin.
The Bible encourages us to put off or lay aside our old nature by putting on our new self in our daily situations. Putting on the new self means to choose to live what is right before God even when we suffer. I know that this is difficult for us to do, but God will bless our life abundantly and experience the peace and the joy of God in our life if we do what is right.
Ask yourself these questions: Why am I still struggling with sin within me? Which nature should I choose to yield my life to? What does God promise me if I choose to live in the new nature that He has given me?
Write down all the worries that you are facing today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for giving me a new nature. Please help me to live in the new nature that you have given me so that I may not sin against you and reap the benefit of your blessing. Please help me now with (mention your prayer requests). In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.