With the New Year approaching, everyone is making their list of resolutions and all the ways that they are going to change their lives. I am not saying that this is a bad thing, but many times these attempts to transform our lives are temporal. We forget that if there is not a shift in our lifestyle, we are going to be carrying the same issues of 2014 into 2015. I have experienced this many times because I am still hanging onto the past, but most importantly, I did not truly understand what it meant to live by the Spirit.
Sometimes there are issues that we believe will be carried
on for a lifetime. We struggle constantly and learn to live with it because we
have given up on ourselves. I will admit
that I have given up on myself many times before. There is one part of me that
knows and trusts that God will take care of me and another side that just wants
to quit. The work seems too burdensome, I feel so far behind, and the effort
that needs to be made is overwhelming. We try for a bit, get close to our goal
and then right before the breakthrough comes, we give up. I am definitely
guilty of this. Even now, I feel myself running from the challenges ahead and
yet running to them at the same time. How
crazy is that? Especially considering the fact that I am still here. We are
alive, breathing and it is clear at this very moment that God has a plan for
our lives. We take this for granted each day. When a loved one passes away, we
are sad and our hearts are broken, but I also believe it is a time of
reflection, realization, and a reminder of how fragile life is. If we spend most of our time running away or
chasing after things that God has not ordained, when are we actually living? I
am physically, mentally, and emotionally tired of trying to find solace in
things that leave my life empty and fruitless.
I have come to understand some things about myself this
year, mainly within these past couple of days that I am not too proud of. I see what God is doing and how He has been
blessing my life and yet I am still holding onto the past. If this was not so, then I would be able to
move forward and readily walk the path of freedom that God has laid out before
me. However, as soon as I see that I have gotten pretty far in my journey, I
look back and grab hold of something that keeps me right in the middle of it all.
My life then becomes a tug of war.
I spend most of my days encouraging, advising, and
counseling others, inspiring them to push through the difficulties of life. The
only reason that I can do this is because I am traveling the same road and
learning as I go. None of us are ever in a place or position where we can look
down upon others because we are all in need of a Savior, no matter where we are
in life. We have to learn how to forgive and move on. Otherwise, we will spend
our lives blaming others for things that no longer have to be a part of who we
are in Christ.
I pray that in this
New Year, we would all walk by the Spirit and allow God to change and transform
our lives through His Son Jesus. There
is no other way
In 2015, I pray that your life will be much more than a
regimen, resolution, diet, or workout plan but rather a process of change,
transformation and a renewing of the mind.
I appeal to you
therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what
is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2,
ESV)
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