“A new year for a new you.” We will probably hear all kinds of gimmicky statements for the next couple of weeks. And they are all geared to helping you improve on the things you just haven’t finished doing in life. I would imagine that most of us like the idea of being flawless and complete, but this side of heaven we must come to grip with the reality that – I’m NOT perfect!
Sometimes the reality of our faults and failures can zap all our energy to try to improve. After all, won’t this be just another failure in my list of failures? What’s it take to break free from that kind of thinking? For the most part – success! “Success breeds success” as the cliché goes. But this is where the vicious cycle begins…or does it?
For most of us, having a personal trainer would make all the difference between failure or success. It’s the one-on-one direction that makes the difference. The drawback is that the personal trainer probably doesn’t live in your house, or goes to work with you, or spends every waking hour reminding you of your goals. But what if you could have one that did just that? How would that change your story?
This is what God has in mind for us, and its been His plan from the beginning. For the Israelites, they were failing miserably at trying to turn over a new leaf. Around every corner was pagan idol worship, or even worse pride and greed. They got discouraged just like we can. And discouragement often leads to abandoning the plan because it's filled with hatred (towards our self perhaps), depression, frustration, worry, bitterness, etc.
But if we’ll listen to God’s “personal trainer” that He offers to live not just with us, but He invites him to live IN us, then we’ll begin to see success in a whole new way. God’s plan is designed to bring love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and even self-control! This is a life being lived under a new director; the Holy Spirit!
We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit the moment we begin to trust Jesus by following what He did, beginning with faith in who He is and obedient to His first action step by being baptized (Acts 2:38). The real challenge is trusting our new “coach,” advocate (John 14:16), helper (John 15:26), your
guide (John 16:13). Because as Paul says in Romans 6:4, “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
All the great coaching in the world does no good if we don’t listen to it. Listening = trusting His plan to a new life; a life that He deemed “good” as He did with everything He created. It’s good because it works, therefore we can have confidence in His guidance. 2 Corinthians 3:4-6, “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as [ministers/ promoters] of a new plan – not [a plan of the words and rules] but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
It takes trusting in God to the point that we don’t abandon our “temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16) but get in there and begin listening to His instructions that truly bring satisfaction to our lives. John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
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