Be transformed

I hope you had an amazing Christmas and a joyful New Year’s Day. Now is the perfect opportunity to get to work to make a difference and change a few lives. Have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet?

I love to evaluate the previous year and then make plans to move forward in my career and personal life. The last few weeks of 2021 and the first few days of 2022 were bathed in prayer, evaluation, and meditation on the Word. friend, do you evaluate the past in order to create a new tomorrow? I do, and I can assure you that it’s painful sometimes…very painful. I’ve always believed that I’ll keep getting what I’m getting as long as I keep doing what I’ve been doing.

Let’s be really honest…were you pleased with 2021? Is there anything you could’ve done differently or better? Are you like me? My list of mistakes is long, and I know there is an invisible list that I’m not even aware of. 

So here are a few practical steps that I take every year in order to create a future instead of continuing to repeat the past. The Bible says, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV) I don’t want to be the same…I want to be transformed! Do you feel this way, too? I’d like to encourage you to:

1. Seek God intensely. “‘But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’” (Matthew 6:33, NIV) 
2. Repent for your mistakes and sins of the past. “But if we evaluated and judged ourselves honestly [recognizing our shortcomings and correcting our behavior], we would not be judged.” (1 Corinthians 11:31, AMP)
3. Ask for wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5, NIV)  
4. Create new goals. 
5. Set a plan to achieve those goals and the calling of God on your life.
6. Add value to other people.
7. Have fun!

These seven steps are not always easy, but they are a road map that I follow consistently. 

friend, do you have a plan to make your life and others’ lives better? You can choose to do it today because you’ve become a miracle, and I believe in you.