Change Is Everywhere
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35 (NIV)
Is it just me or are we being bombarded with ads from the media suggesting that we can be more, do more, and experience a better life this year. All we need to do is have the energy to get started. Right? No there is a little more to it than that. There must be a longing to change or improve certain areas in our lives. I could rattle off quite a long list, but I’ll save that for another time. Jennifer Grant (Mornings with Jesus) helps us make sense of change and so the adventure begins.
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At the start of each new year, it feels like everywhere I look, I’m being asked to change. “New year, new you!” the message shouts. It’s featured on social media, in magazines, and on podcasts and radio shows. Sometimes it feels like a kind invitation: I’m gently prompted to reflect on what matters most to me and then to prioritize these things over the course of the coming year. Is nurturing my relationship with my husband and children a value? I can put more family outings and dinners on the calendar. Is spending time in prayer important to me? I can choose to wake up a few minutes earlier than usual to pray.
Other messages I receive when a new year begins feel more guilt-inducing and like just more to put on my to-do list. Drink more water. Exercise more. Even if these changers matter to me, such messages remind me of my shortcomings.
But rather than feeling guilty about what I have left undone in the past or what goal I’ve not yet met, I want to choose a different resolution this year. Taking Jesus’s lead, I’d like to, more and more, show His love to others by seeing them with His eyes. Jesus’s messages ring true, no matter what time of year it is.
FAITH STEP: Close your eyes and bring to mind three people you interact with regularly. Ask Jesus to help you see them with His eyes as you seek to show them love in the coming year.
Gracious and Loving Lord, thank You for showing me the areas in my life that need change. Please help me make good and wise decisions about what to improve and how to do it. AMEN.