New Year, New You!

By Reverend J. Loren Russell
Colossians 3:12-17 NKJV

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
— Colossians 3:12–17 (NKJV)

Everyone has a personal New Year. It is the day we recognize and often celebrate our birth. If you are anything like me, you take time to evaluate your past year and determine what your personal New Year resolutions will be.

The verses from Colossians offer succinct qualities of someone who has resolved to make wholesale changes in their life. Such a person will put away earthly and fleshly desires of “anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of [their] mouth.” They are among those who “do not lie to one another,” and who have a sincere desire to “put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”

If I can be transparent with you, it is not easy to make these kinds of dramatic character changes. These are transformative resolutions, unlike the ones made at the dawn of a new year, or at the drop of the ball in Times Square, that only last until the sun comes up. Paul says that these deeper resolutions only come when someone allows “the word of Christ [to] dwell in [them] richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in [their] hearts to the Lord.” They must embody the characteristics of the new man or woman described in the text. Individually, not collectively, we must be determined to transform our minds as well as our actions (see Romans 12:2).

Paul tells his readers that to create “a new you,” they must robe themselves with tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing (putting up with) and forgiving each other. This will not be accomplished unless and until we eliminate the tendency to procrastinate. It must be done right here and right now. And once you begin, you cannot quit, no matter how rough it gets.

The dawn of my personal New Year is upon me, so I challenge myself once again with this question: Who am I going to be in my personal New Year? Material things are temporal, so it does not matter how much I own. The characteristics of the new man I am striving to be are everlasting. I desire to be transformed from the inside, so that what shows up on the outside is someone who conforms to the image of God.

Let me suggest that you likewise make a commitment today to be a new man or a new woman. Let me further encourage you to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” You do not have to wait for your personal New Year. Use mine—and be a new you right now.

Be Blessed!

Rev. J. Loren Russell is the Clergy Officiant at the Evangelical Church of God and an associate minister at Goodwill Baptist Church, both in the Bronx, NY. He is the President/CEO of The JLR Company.

 

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