Sunday, January 1, 2012

The Year Of Transformation

2012.  Twenty-Twelve.  MMXII.  A new year has begun.

Whenever we transition from one year to the next, one thing that a lot of us do is declare resolutions.  I know that I used to.  At one point, I spent inordinate, unnecessary amounts of time writing my resolutions out, picking the most serious, most determined font that stated "I'M SERIOUS ABOUT MAKING CHANGES THIS YEAR."

...doesn't this insane asylum font just SCREAM "I'M SERIOUS"?  Doesn't it?!  THEY'RE ALL GONNA LAUGH AT YOU!!!

But as I continue to grow in my relationship with Christ, I came to the understanding that the best way to implement any change in my life was to renew the mind.  In Romans 12:2, the Apostle Paul writes:
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- His good, pleasing and perfect will."
It took a little while for this message to really sink in.  I kept documenting my resolutions, but I never really did anything different to make the change that I was seeking.  Eventually, the year would go on, and the resolutions that I spent so much time documenting and writing would fade into oblivion.  Every now and then, I would stumble upon a printout and get mad at myself for not following through.  It made me feel like a failure, because I resolved to do "X" and by December 31, "X" didn't happen.  Whether it was financial improvements, transportation improvements, or getting into a relationship, I used to get myself bent out of shape when the end of the year came and nothing happened.

But once I became active in my church, I started to absorb the lessons being taught.  One of the lessons was about resolutions.  Wouldn't you know it, resolutions have a way of falling by the wayside.  Even statistically speaking, only 46% of resolutions are kept throughout the end of the year.  This is not to say that New Years' resolutions are a BAD thing.  But for me, resolutions were not working.  But there are some things that I needed to change.  And how was I going to facilitate that change?

Eventually, the answer hit me.

Renew the mind.  Renew The Mind.  RENEW THE MIND.

I've been through some dark patches, and I got to a point where I hit rock bottom spiritually and mentally.  And this began to affect other areas of my life.  After praying, meditating, counseling, etc., I began to see that I was previously paying lip-service to the changes that I wanted.  I didn't allow myself to CONTINUE the transformative process that began when I turned my life over to Christ.

But when I DID begin to renew my mind, I saw that the changes that I needed to make (and still need to make) aren't determined by a calendar date.  The Scripture does not say "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind -- on New Years' Day."  The change had to begin now.  In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Paul wrote:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by dayFor our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

The bolded phrase stood out the most for me.  We are being renewed day by day.  God doesn't want us to wait until the beginning of the new year to transform.  As humans, we are all subject to screwing up in one form or another, either by commission or omission.  Lord knows that I've done my share of both.  And the Lord also knows that the only way that I could be truly delivered was to change my perspective about myself on a daily basis.  Instead of condemning myself for my sins, mistakes, shortcomings, etc etc ad nauseum ad infinitum, I needed to see myself as God sees me.  God doesn't see me as someone who's mired in self-pity, crying "woe is me."  People who are part of a royal priesthood don't do that.

I called this post "The Year of Transformation" not because I have resolved to transform myself in 2012...

...no, not this kind of transformation... but this wouldn't be too bad...

...but because I am dedicating this year to the continued development and transformation that has begun a little while ago.  I saw that once I began to meditate and study the Word, I became more focused on making major changes.  There are still some more things that I continue to work on... but rather than RESOLVE to make the change, I decided to live a lifestyle dedicated to transformation.  It has been an ongoing process, and it continues to be.  I may stumble, but victory can be obtained, even in what appears to be a defeat or a setback.  This is the Year of Transformation... The Year of the Lord's favor.  And it's mine.