THE MESSY MIDDLE
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward cal of God in Christ Jesus — Philippians 3:13-14
Some seasons feel like standing between two versions of yourself. I’ve noticed how uncomfortable that space can be. Old habits still whisper because they’re familiar. The patterns we’re leaving behind almost feel easier than the growth we know God is leading us into. In that middle place, comfort can sound convincing, and fear can begin to disguise itself as reasonable caution.
“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
Scripture speaks plainly about what God has done. In Christ, the old life is not being slowly patched together. It has passed away. Something genuinely new has begun. Yet living into that new life rarely feels immediate or simple. Growth often happens in the unsettled middle, where the old identity is losing its hold but the new one is still forming.
This is where the tension shows up in ordinary moments. Maybe it’s the instinct to react the old way during a difficult conversation, or the pull to retreat into familiar patterns when discipline feels heavy. Part of us remembers the old life well. But the Spirit is patiently reshaping us into something different.
New life always involves growth. Like a newborn learning to breathe, stretch, and move in a world it has never experienced before, we learn to walk in a life we didn’t build ourselves. There is no path backward into who we were meant to leave behind. Returning to the old self only deepens the struggle already being refined in us.
God is not calling us back to the ashes of what He has already redeemed. He is forming something new, and even the messy middle is part of His faithful work.
Ask Yourself:
Where might I still be tempted to return to an old identity instead of trusting the new life God is forming in me?
