Becoming New
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And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into Him and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. – Colossians 2:6-7 (NLT)
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. – Romans 12:2 (NLT)
Every year on January 2, people flood gyms with lofty New Year’s resolutions hoping to lose weight and improve their health. My task as a personal trainer was to help them set realistic goals, develop an action plan, and partner with them for accountability and guidance as they worked toward them.
Over half of them quit because they struggled to change habits. They wanted instant success by making temporary changes for permanent results. Those who succeeded did so by accepting the truth that they needed to make those changes and by being willing to learn from their past failures. Once they reached their goals, they had developed a new mindset about health and fitness, adopting this new lifestyle with gratitude for how much better they felt and how much more they could operate daily.
Just like improving our physical health is important, so is improving our spiritual health. In Colossians 2:6-7, we read that the best way to become new is to follow the solid Biblical teachings that are deeply grounded in God’s Word, which ground us in our Christian faith. We must transform our thoughts to change our behaviors (Romans 12:2). We become new after we accept Jesus as our Savior and transform our lives by following God’s Word.
As we grow in our Christian faith, learning what God says in the Bible and understanding it will give us a better view of how we should live to please God and live out His perfect will. We become better rooted as our lives are built upon Christ (Colossians 2:6-7), which pleases God. In turn He blesses us with a deeper relationship with overflowing thankfulness. Our habits and lifestyles change for the better.
Questions for Reflection:
1. Do you attend a Christian church that teaches God’s Word as truth?
2. Do you participate in Bible studies to gain a greater understanding of how God wants you to live?
3. Do you have a mentor, someone with whom you can be accountable in making changes in your life, becoming more Christ-like?
