Old Skin

"Sara, you need to learn to shed some old skin."

These are the wise words that came from my sweet husband, the other day, after I had once again drug up an old hurt to prove a point. It stopped me completely in my tracks. I wanted to argue it. I wanted to get mad. I wanted to come back with something stupid like "Don't compare me to a snake!" or "Oh yea...oh yea...YOU need to shed some old skin." (I told you it would have been stupid!) .... But I couldn't, because I knew he was right.

"Sara, you need to learn to shed some old skin."

I couldn't quit thinking about it. It rang over and over in my head. And the more I thought about it, the more the Lord began to speak to me about it. It became clearer and clearer, I need to shed some old skin. Let it go. Move on. I need to wake up everyday giving myself and others the same mercy, God Himself gives to me. He says that mercy is new every single morning. It's a new day, and He wants to do something brand new. That means, I can't hold onto the old skin from yesterday, and the day before that, and the month before that, and the year before that. That's a heavy burden to bear. One that the Lord never intended me to carry. Let it go. Move on.

Let it go! Shed that old skin! Shed that old burden! The new skin is light and easy; it's freedom! He is doing a brand new thing and I want in on it! That's going to require me to get rid of the old. To truly learn to walk in the freedom that is the new. In Christ, I am a new creature and this new creature doesn't need to hold onto the old skin of yesterday.

Move on! I don't need to move on from people; I need move on from the hurt, the pain, the confusion, and the offense that those people represent. Never from the people themselves. I love them. I will pray for them. However, I won't bring them in close to me again. I won't allow them to continue to have a voice in my ear, but I will love them.

Lee is now holding me accountable in this area and he has asked me to do the same for him. We are not going to live in old skin anymore. We are not going to hold onto what happened yesterday, or the day before, or the month before that, or the year before that, or the years before that. We are going to give new mercy every single morning, to ourselves, to one another, to our children, and to others. Every day we can wake up to a fresh new day, in fresh new skin. After all, that is what our most gracious Heavenly Father does for us every single morning, faithfully and unfailingly.

Let it go. Move on. Step into the new skin. There is FREEDOM there. Real freedom, that is easy and light.

Lamentations 3:22-23 "Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness"

Matthew 11:30 "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Isaiah 43:18-19 “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!"

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new is here."