Have you ever made New Years Resolutions and then break them before the day is out?
Have you tried to be a better, healthier and wealthier person but come short?
What about your relationship with God – have you tried to deepen it but it still ends up being a Sunday thing?
I’ve been there. For years and years I have kept lists of changes that I wanted to see in my life. I am a list person. I like to write lists and tick them off. But the lists I had written down in my journals never seem to be ticked off.
I became burdened by the many things I saw needed changing in my life.
Ever felt burdened by your shortcomings? As believers we are suppose to be walking in freedom not burdened by a list of changes needed.
Five or six years ago I discovered how to make changes that last. It was a total breakthrough. It was so simple.
Work on ONE area each year.
One area – not ten but one only.
This has released me from feelings of inadequacy and failure. I am no longer staring at a un-ticked list of goals on 31st December each year.
It all came about through my journals. I am a prolific journaler and at the end of each year I would read through my journal entries and summarize what I had learned, how I had grown and things that God had taught me during the year. I would then boil this down into a ‘spiritual theme’.
This is the benefit of journaling. The power of looking back.
It was totally amazing to discover that God had been dealing with me in just one area. Every year there was a definite theme. In hindsight it was so obvious. I have discovered that this is very typical of God. He tends to work on one area or ‘theme’ with us at a time.
God tells the Israelites in Exodus 23 that He would not drive out their enemies in one year because the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply and threaten them. But He did promise to drive them out little at a time until their population has increased enough to take possession of the land.
This is the way God works in transforming our lives – he does it a little at a time. Otherwise we couldn’t cope with the massive amount of change needed!
Four years ago, God lead me to read “My One Word: Change Your Life With Just One Word” by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen. This book described the process of focusing on one area to change in your life with God’s help.
This was what I was in fact doing but Mike and Rachel went a step further. They suggested that you actively pray and then choose one word that you would focus on for the year to create lasting change in your life.
It’s an exciting process of reinventing your life – spiritual, physical, emotional and mental life – by focusing on one word for the year.
Wow – this was like my ‘spiritual theme’ on steroids.
I grabbed this concept and have been applying it to my life ever since.
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