New Year—New You!

I am sure we are all wondering what changes lie ahead this year, hoping they are “good” (as defined by us). Change equals growth—physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Still, even though we know we this, we are quite change resistant, unless the changes are under our control, and happen to coincide with our own plans.

But, God’s predestined plan is clear: to renew our inner man day by day (1 Cor. 4:16); to conform us to the image of Jesus (Rom. 8:28); and bring about our transformation (Rom. 12:2). The words ‘renew,’ ‘transform,’ and ‘conform’ all denote “change.” In particular, the word ‘renew’ means to become newer (a word for which we have no English equivalent), God's way of producing Christ-likeness in us, one day at a time.

None of us knows what changes God has pre-planned for us in this new year. But this truth should sustain us: If any person is in Christ, He is “new” (2 Cor. 5:17), and yet, becoming “newer” every day. Walk in this “newness” (Rom. 6:4), and by the end of 2014, you will have become a new, i.e., “newer,” you.