2 Corinthians 5:17 is one of my favorite verses.

As a young Christian, I was feeling frustrated at not being as "good" as I thought I should be. (I was almost 29 when I was saved. You can learn a lot of bad behavior in 28 years.) I even began to doubt my salvation. Our Father is so faithful. I came upon this verse and noticed one tiny little two-letter word - "is". "...if any man is in Christ he is a new creation...." Not gonna be, hopes to be, might be, but is a new creation. I realized then that because of Jesus' redemptive work on the cross, the creepy crawly, nasty, waller in the dirt caterpillar that I was had become a new creature. Taa-daa!! I am flying high on my butterfly wings. So I always have a butterfly around to remind me to stay out of the dirt and act like a butterfly.

Jesus loves you and I do, too.