I don't become a new thing because of my past, I become a new thing because of Your presence.

It is not because of the experiences and hardships or positive influences of my past that I become a new creation in Christ. I become a new creature because of Your breath blew upon the seed of the endless life of Christ Jesus implanted in my spirit.

It is not by the will of man nor the will of the flesh but of God that I become new. And so, once born into the new man in Christ all experiences - past, present and future - serve only to advance the purposes of God to mature that new man into the likeness of Christ - to the full stature of a son of God.

While one's history may have been used by God to create a hunger for the things of His heart, they are not that which creates a new man. One may imagine that the depths to which his soul has sunk into sin results in a corresponding height of his devotion to Christ, or his usefulness to God after conversion. I don't believe that bears out.

The process of transformation in godliness is similar for everyone who enters new life in Christ. A disciple works out his or her salvation through devotion, yieldedness, faith and joyful cooperation with the Holy Spirit. That's how the glory of God (that eternal Life welling up in your spirit) covers the whole earth (permeates all of your mind, heart and body).