For the most part, the change that a New Year brings can't be controlled. We don't know what the future holds for our jobs or health. We don't know if we will lose a loved one. We don't know if we will be in financial distress. For those of us in a military family, we don't know if we will face a deployment.
There is a change, however, that we can have control over.
Colossians 3:8-10 says, "But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him."
We can, as believers, control our behavior. When we surrendered our lives to Jesus, we were to put on the new man. Sometimes we slip back into the old. For whatever reason, our prayer time, Bible study time, and even church attendance may falter. We get into ruts and habits of old. These pull us far from our God.
I can see it in myself.
When I don't pray like I should, when I don't read my Bible like I should, some of the "old me" comes back. My attitude changes back. I am a little more negative. My temper is shorter. a choice word or two may slip out.
Sometimes I forget who I am. I am a Child of God. I should mirror His image. That is the change I should see in me. When I take the focus off of Him, and put it on me (my fatigue, my wants), I don't mirror Him. In everything I do, I should have the witness of Jesus Christ and the work He has done. No one should ever wonder what I stand for and who I kneel to.
So, this next year, as I resolve to be a physically healthier me, I also resolve to be a spiritually healthier me. My goal is change: to put off the old and put on the new, to be the woman God intends for me to be.
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