Renamed and Redefined by God
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:17
Jacob had spent his life living up to the name others had given him: trickster, deceiver, manipulator. Every decision he made seemed to confirm what people believed about him. But when he wrestled with God, something changed. In that moment, God did not just bless him; He renamed him. You will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel. It was more than a new name. It was a new identity.
Maybe you have been carrying a name that was never meant for you. Maybe you have been labeled by your past, by your mistakes, by what others have spoken over you. You have been called things like failure, unworthy, not enough, broken, or lost. And for too long, you have believed it. But God is in the business of renaming and redefining.
Before He changes your circumstances, He starts by changing you. He calls you chosen when the world calls you forgotten. He calls you redeemed when your past calls you guilty. He calls you a new creation when the enemy tries to remind you of who you used to be. He does not just patch up the broken pieces of your life, He makes you brand new.
But understand this, God’s renaming requires your surrender. Jacob had to stop pretending, stop manipulating, stop running, and finally face himself before he could receive his new name. You cannot step into the life God has for you while still clinging to the labels of your past. You must be willing to let go of who you were in order to become who He is calling you to be.
What is your name? Not the one the world gave you. Not the one shaped by your failures or fears. But the one God is speaking over you. He is calling you His child, His masterpiece, His chosen one. And if you embrace that name, you will no longer be defined by what was, you will be redefined by what He is doing now.
Jacob had spent his life living up to the name others had given him: trickster, deceiver, manipulator. Every decision he made seemed to confirm what people believed about him. But when he wrestled with God, something changed. In that moment, God did not just bless him; He renamed him. You will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel. It was more than a new name. It was a new identity.
Maybe you have been carrying a name that was never meant for you. Maybe you have been labeled by your past, by your mistakes, by what others have spoken over you. You have been called things like failure, unworthy, not enough, broken, or lost. And for too long, you have believed it. But God is in the business of renaming and redefining.
Before He changes your circumstances, He starts by changing you. He calls you chosen when the world calls you forgotten. He calls you redeemed when your past calls you guilty. He calls you a new creation when the enemy tries to remind you of who you used to be. He does not just patch up the broken pieces of your life, He makes you brand new.
But understand this, God’s renaming requires your surrender. Jacob had to stop pretending, stop manipulating, stop running, and finally face himself before he could receive his new name. You cannot step into the life God has for you while still clinging to the labels of your past. You must be willing to let go of who you were in order to become who He is calling you to be.
What is your name? Not the one the world gave you. Not the one shaped by your failures or fears. But the one God is speaking over you. He is calling you His child, His masterpiece, His chosen one. And if you embrace that name, you will no longer be defined by what was, you will be redefined by what He is doing now.
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