What’s a lesson you’ve learned recently that shifted your perspective?
Title: The Copper Jar and the New Creation
Growing up in a bilingual city, I learned two proverbs side by side: the English saying, “A leopard never changes its spots,” and its Chinese counterpart, “A copper jar holds copper oil.”
Once a thief, always a thief? What has upheld this cynical belief for centuries? Is it sin? And who, if anyone, can come to our rescue?
As a young and zealous Christian, I would have answered immediately—Jesus can. I would have quoted 2 Corinthians 5:17 with confidence: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Over the years, however, I have met many believers who read that verse but only a few who truly seem to live it out. No matter how frustrated I become, I still hold fast to the belief that in Christ, the new creation replaces the old flesh. But others comfort themselves with a different thought: Take it easy—transformation is a lifetime’s work.
Recently, the Holy Spirit has widened my perspective, turning my frustration into sympathy—and, more deeply, into self-reflection. I have shifted from simply believing in the new creation in Christ, to understanding that Christ is everything, and is in everything—but it is we humans who exclude ourselves from within Him. The old character, embedded in our very DNA, dies hard.
I have seen believers who are kind and humble on the surface, yet bitter and prideful within. They may be devoted to church ministry, share the gospel insightfully, and pray affectionately. Yet they are often less tolerant of any scriptural interpretation that differs from their own. Preaching against clinging to earthly success while quietly prideful of their own worldly achievements is not uncommon.
As I gather my thoughts on the old versus the new creation, I am mindful that these brothers and sisters may simply be a mirror of myself—or of any believer. To see your own weakness without the conviction to change for the better is fruitless; but to lock yourself in your blind spots is lethal. If a believer is truly in Christ, then Christ is everything in him.
I still agree that transformation into the likeness of Christ is a lifetime’s work—but it is not achieved by our own effort; it is the work of Almighty God (Ephesians 2:10). It is not a matter of head knowledge, but of heart surrender. Yet if believers prefer to lick their old wounds and resist being transformed by God, they will remain in the old—just like the copper jar that holds copper oil.
And so I leave you not with a conclusion, but with this poem—a reflection on the only lasting peace I know.
—
✨ Not I Who Don’t Change ✨
Sunrise, sunset –
What shifts is not the sun.
Love and hate –
What wavers is not conscience.
Done poorly – it’s another’s fault.
Done well – it’s my own good.
Looking at myself through self –
I see only my shadow.
Lay down the self, depart delusion.
In eternity – no longer am I myself.
—
en yan hua fang 