As a Christian, there are steps you can take today that will change your new year forever. I am not talking about a temporary change. I am talking about a permanent change that will make your new year different from all the previous ones.
Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19 CSB)
Do you desire the coming year to differ from the past years? Is it time for a change? Do you find your life made up of reacting to circumstances instead of you controlling the circumstances?
Many people desire to change when the new year comes around. Yet, most people never do what is necessary to change their life. It takes more than talk; it requires us to do something.
Let me list five steps that will make your new year different forever.
5 Steps to Make Your New Year Different:
- Make Matthew 6:33 your core scripture
- Make a quality decision to do whatever is necessary to change
- Let go of the past
- Take control of your mouth
- Your being happy is not the goal
These five steps will make your new year different, not only this year but all your future years. This isn’t just a one-and-done type of deal. This is a change of lifestyle. It requires you to do something with purpose and intent. If you do these five steps, I guarantee it will change your life.
Step One: Make Matthew 6:33 Your Core Scripture to Make Your New Year Different
The very first step to making your new year different is to get your life centered.
But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. (Matthew 6:33 CSB)
This scripture from the sermon on the mount will center your life – spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. It does this by providing the believer with focus.
How do we seek the Kingdom of God? To answer this, we must know what the Kingdom of God is.
Seeking First the Kingdom of God
A kingdom is a domain where a king rules and reigns. So the Kingdom of God is where God rules and reigns. We must allow God to rule and reign over all our life.
We do this through Bible study, prayer, and doing whatever God’s Word commands. These are important steps to allowing God to rule and reign over every aspect of our life.
This is why Jesus commands us to “seek first the Kingdom of God.” In every decision we make, we must first ask ourselves, “Am I allowing God to rule and reign in this decision or situation?”
When we answer “Yes” to this question, we have taken human reasoning and emotions out of the equation. That is how this scripture keeps our life centered.
Seeking His Righteousness
Then there is the second requirement Jesus commanded us in Matthew 6:33, “… and His righteousness.” What does this even mean? How do we seek God’s righteousness? To answer this, let me give a simple definition of God’s righteousness.
God’s righteousness is God’s way of doing and being right.
Using this simple definition, it is much easier to understand what Jesus is commanding us. We must always seek God’s way of doing and being right.
Fortunately, we do this in the same way we seek the Kingdom of God. Through Bible study, prayer, and obedience to God’s Word. This makes it easy for us to do Matthew 6:33.
This first step to make your new year different is a two-part process. We must do both parts for it to be effective. When you do both parts, you will find your life both centered and balanced.
If you would like to know more about Core Scriptures, my article will give you more information concerning their importance.
Develop Core Scriptures To Create Bold Balance In Your Life
Step Two: Make a Quality Decision to do Whatever is Necessary to Change and Make Your New Year Different
Do not take this second step lightly. For it to be effective in your life requires making a quality decision. That is the problem with resolutions. We seldom make them as quality decisions.
So, what is a quality decision? A true quality decision is one that you will never back down from. You stick with a quality decision no matter what the circumstances may look like.
Change is never easy. Our natural human side, the flesh, resists change. It doesn’t like the inconvenience of change. This is why a quality decision is necessary when it comes to change.
Where does the change come from? From the Word of God. You must decide to do whatever the Word of God commands you to do. Regardless of how the consequences may appear.
What God commands us to do in His Word is never wrong. His Word is truth and always right for us. Though, sometimes God’s commands can appear detrimental to us from a human or world perspective.
Do what the Word says to do, regardless of how the outcome may appear. Do it knowing that God’s way is best and righteous.
Let me give a tip on how I approach making quality decisions in my spiritual life. I take communion over them. Just me and God at home. I find when I take communion over my decisions; they become a covenant between me and God. I refuse to break any covenant I make with God.
Start today and make the quality decision to change whatever God’s Word commands you to change. Don’t make the Word of God fit your lifestyle. Make your lifestyle fit with the Word of God.
Step Three: Let Go of the Past to Make Your New Year Different
One of satan’s most effective tactics is to trap Christians with regret over their past. He uses the past to make Christians feel unworthy. How do you conquer this?
If the past satan is haunting you with is from before you became a Christian, then realize that person no longer exists. The old you died with Christ, and you are a new creation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB)
Take God’s Word, meditate upon it, and believe it. Tell satan the old you is dead and not to bring it up again.
To learn more about meditation and its importance, you can read my article:
Meditate Scripture | The Next Essential Step to Your Successful Life
If what satan is haunting you with is something that you did since you became a Christian, that is also easy to deal with. First, make sure you have confessed your sin and asked God for forgiveness.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 CSB)
If you have done this, tell satan God has forgiven you and he can get lost. God has forgotten it and so must you. After you have done this, it is simply a matter of view.
Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV)
Is your view one of remembering the past? Bury your past. It is dead and gone. Make your view of the future where God is doing new things in your life.
This is what Paul did. Before he became a Christian, he hunted down Christians and had them imprisoned or even killed. Yet he left his past behind. See what Paul wrote about his past.
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13–14 CSB)
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 CSB)
If Paul found the grace to forget his past, so can we. God supplies His grace liberally when we ask.
Step Four: Take Control of Your Mouth to Make Your New Year Different
What you say matters. Too often we act as if we really don’t believe this and say whatever comes to mind.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21 CSB)
This is a powerful scripture. The tongue, the words we speak, creates fruit in our life. We must be aware of what kind of fruit we produce with the words we speak.
How do we know if our words are full of life or contain death? If the words we speak are in line with the Word of God, then they are full of life. If not, then they are full of death.
So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest. And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among our members. It stains the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. (James 3:5–6 CSB)
Our tongue speaks what we have trained our hearts to believe. How do we train our hearts? By what we allow to come through our ears and our eyes.
We must be careful of what we listen to and watch. Our heart is being trained by what we focus on. Just listen to what a person talks about, and you will know what their heart is full of. The same goes for you and me. Listen to your words and you will identify what your heart is full of.
Taking control of your mouth is a crucial step to make your new year different. Choose the words you say carefully. Feed on the Word of God as frequently as possible.
Create a future that is full of life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Refuse to say anything that contradicts the Word of God.
Step Five: Your Being Happy is Not the Goal to Make Your New Year Different
Happiness is not our goal in life. Your happiness is not God’s goal for your life. Happiness is an emotion that comes and goes. Happiness flees in tests and trials. It is nowhere to be found when we are persecuted because of our faith in Christ. It is an emotion that is a byproduct of the events in our life.
If happiness is the goal, for you or your spouse or children, then it is a failed goal every time happiness is not evident. Happiness is too fleeting of an emotion to be a goal.
Most divorces in the United States are based on, “But I just wasn’t happy anymore. I had to do what was right for me.” Happiness is too shaky of a foundation to build a marriage on. It is also too shaky of a foundation to build a life on.
If not happiness, then what is our goal? What will last for a lifetime?
The answer to this question lasts more than just a lifetime. It is eternal. Here is the goal for every Christian:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones. Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest; then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine. (Proverbs 3:5–10 CSB)
Our goal while on the earth is to build an unshakable trust in the Lord. A trust so complete tests, trials, or persecution can’t shake it. Joy is the natural product of a Spirit-filled life lived in complete trust, confidence, and reliance on the Lord. Instead of happiness, you have joy. Joy is permanent as a fruit of the Spirit.
Seek every area of your life where you don’t have complete trust, confidence, and reliance on the Lord. When you find them, develop your trust by finding God’s solutions for that area of your life in His Word.
“Yes,” you may ask, “But how do I identify those areas where I do not have complete trust, confidence, and reliance on God?”
That is simple to answer. Just look for the areas where you are afraid or worried. In any part of your life where there is fear and worry, you don’t have complete trust, confidence, and reliance on God.
Those are the areas to work on first.
Here are my other articles that will help you develop your trust, confidence, and reliance on the Lord:
God’s Word is Final Authority: You Can Be An Overcomer By Faith
Make Your New Year Different
Now you have the five steps that will make your new year different. Determine to make this new year and all future new years different from those in the past. Now is the time to start.
Make God the complete focus of your life. You will never be sorry nor regret your decision.
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