If you have accepted Christ as your Savior your life should change. If it hasn’t, there are some things you may not be doing. Are we enjoying life like Christ intended? As Christians shouldn’t we be living an extra-ordinary life style? Following is an illustration I have used before as it clearly defines what we may expect once we become a Christian.

God created an ugly old worm, called a caterpillar that crawls along the ground with all kinds of obstacles blocking its way. After a time, this worm is instantaneously transformed into an insect called a butterfly, which is one of the most graceful and beautiful of all insects. What kind of life are we living, like the caterpillar or the butterfly? As a result of sin and our self-centered nature, we were born ‘caterpillar-like’. But Christ came to offer us a ‘butterfly-like’ life. If God can transform a caterpillar into a butterfly, can’t He transform a sinner into one of His children? The Bible says God will bring our lives into a new dimension. (“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come!” II Corinthians 5:17). As a caterpillar, I face death. As a butterfly, the Spirit has set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

Each of us is made uniquely different. Some were created with certain abilities, some handicapped and most of us average. God didn’t say let’s create another human today and watch them fail. He had the knowledge and ability to put the universe together; and He knew everyone of us prior to our birth. Then can’t He give each one of us a plan and purpose for our lives with the abilities to be successful in whatever we do? However, Satan is not pleased when Christians do things out of the ordinary. Have you been told you will not amount to much? That doesn’t come from God.

I found the American dream was available to those who realized that it won’t be given to them; it had to be earned. I received a degree in business management. I read many books on the power of positive thinking. I studied management principles and went to numerous seminars to improve my skills. The one book that has helped me the most is studying the Bible. One thing I learned was preparation. It was one key to success. I also learned the importance of trusting in God’s promises. I became aware that the Holy Spirit was given to us that we might have comfort, guidance and to help us with our purpose in life. The Bible taught me to become free from the ways of society and our worldly, self-centered nature and become more Christ-centered and Christ-minded.

2 Corinthians 3:4–5 “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.”

Paul insists that whatever he has done is not of his own work but the work of God as making him confident and worthy. Paul, as many of us, never think of ourselves as being adequate for any task; Paul thought it was through God, Who made him confident and adequate. If we do not think the same way but believe confidence and feeling worthy is a result of our own strength, we ignore the power within us. Proverbs 23:7a “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Most every person in the Bible realized their weakness. It is important to understand that our competence comes from God. So how do we get the power that the Holy Spirit provides us? Luke 11:13b “Your Father in heaven gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The Old Covenant was based upon a written document. The New Covenant is based upon the power of the life-giving Holy Spirit. The old was a deadly thing because it produced a legal relationship between God and each person. The New Covenant is based upon the power of the life-giving Holy Spirit. Under the Old Covenant, followers of God could not keep the laws. People could not achieve anything but condemnation and that meant death. It killed strength. It told people what to do but it could not help people do it.

The New Covenant is a relationship of love. It is a relationship between God, our Father, and we, His children. We are no longer criminals under the law. No matter how disobedient they might be, they were still the children of God. The New Covenant did not provide new laws but it changed the hearts of people who accepted Christ and were converted from the old man, one’s self-centered-carnal nature, to a new nature and a new person with confidence and the feeling of Christ having made us worthy.

Once a person received the Holy Spirit, they were not only told what to do but, it gave them the strength and power to do it. Scripture tells us if we reflect on Christ, His image will appear in our lives. Therefore, once we die out and surrender our self-centeredness, the power that is in us will provide all the confidence and worthiness that is needed to have a life of freedom. The Holy Spirit does not want us to fail but be successful. That strength and power that changes our hearts is what gives us the desire to serve God. It is not the law but love that binds us to God. When we are servicing and living to please God, we receive a perfect freedom from the negatives that may have enslaved our lives and taken our confidence and feelings of unworthiness.

If you continue to lack confidence and feel unworthy, you need to trust what the Bible guarantee is available to a Christ-centered person. Give up using your own strength and allow the Holy Spirit to give you the power to become that new person that Christ says we can be.

Mark 11:22–23 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” (Could your problem be a lack of faith?)