Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSB)

I am so grateful for the new life Jesus has given us through his suffering and death on the cross. Our surrounding world is the same, but we can see it in a new light that shows us new relationships, new goals and motivations for everything we do, as we now center our lives on him. Our daily encounters with people, the small decisions and major paths we choose to take, the "why" of doing the things we do can all be seen in the new focus of serving Christ.

Our union with Christ through faith and baptism shifts our center from ourselves to him and the great sacrifice he made for us. We live not for ourselves with the selfish desires and self-centeredness we see in the world, but now we can live with something so much better, a constant reference to Christ. Our lives are under the influence of a new love, turning us away from selfish desires to something so much better.  This new life gives us a fresh, strong, and confident motive to obey him.

Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:18-19