Happy 2026! According to the Gregorian calendar, it has been two millennia, two decades, six years, and ten days since the birth of Christ. Our calendar is named the Gregorian calendar after Pope Gregory the eighth, who decreed its use in 1582. It replaced the Julian calendar, named after Julius Caesar, which had been in effect since 45 B.C. So the Julian calendar had a good run, over sixteen centuries; but the problem was that it had too many leap years, and this caused the length of a year to be overestimated by about 1/100 of a percent. That doesn’t sound like much, but over time, the calendar year had lost over a week, relative to the number of days that it actually takes for the earth to revolve around the sun. And so when they changed to the new calendar in 1582, they had to jump ahead 11 days, from October 4 to October 11. You thought losing an hour changing to Daylight Savings Time was confusing. Imagine losing a whole week. Interestingly, most Protestant countries did not immediately adopt the Gregorian calendar, as some feared that it was a plot to bring them back under the dominion of the Catholic pope. For example, Great Britain did not begin using it until 1752, 170 years later. And Greece finally adopted it in 1923.
And why do we consider January 1 to be the “beginning” of the year? After all, the earth orbits around the sun continuously. There is no celestial finish line, no point in that great circle that we pass by every year, to signify that one orbit has completed and another orbit has begun. So why does a year “begin” on January 1? Why not start the year in the spring, or the summer? Well, because January was named after the Roman god Janus, the god of transitions, and beginnings and endings. Janus was also the god of gates and doorways. And so January symbolized looking back at the old year and forward to the new. In fact, because of that pagan symbolism, after the fall of Rome, in many Christian parts of the world, the new year was celebrated at other times, such as Easter.
I share all of that with you to make the point that celebrating the New Year on January 1 is somewhat arbitrary. It’s the result of decisions made long ago by Roman emperors and Catholic popes, and it involves a two-faced pagan god who is also the god of gates and doorways. Nevertheless, it’s as good a time as any to take stock of things, to pause and think about our lives and consider whether there are any changes we would like to see in the year to come. You can call this making New Year’s resolutions. That’s traditional. You can call it an annual self-evaluation, although that sounds rather corporate. You can call it taking a look in the mirror. Call it whatever you want. But if we are to grow, and change, and mature as followers of Christ, then this is something we need to be doing on a regular basis. And as I said, the time of year when we hang a new calendar on the wall is as good a time as any.
But before I talk about how we should examine ourselves, I’d like to make a case for why we should do so. Why go to the trouble of comparing where we are spiritually with where we would like to be? What good does that do? Why not just keep doing our best every day? And the reason is that change is hard. We tend to avoid it because it’s uncomfortable. We are also creatures of habit, we tend to stay in our ruts. So unless we are explicitly setting aside time—whether it’s once a year, or once a month, or once a week—unless we are regularly setting aside time to assess our progress in the faith, we probably won’t make progress, or at least not as steadily as we could. So this is your call to do that. Let’s jump in.
So first of all, does God even want us to change? Is it normal, and expected, that our character—our thoughts and attitudes, our speech, and our conduct—should change over time? Is it reasonable to think that we will be different a year from now? Or are we just marking time, doing our best to be good Christians until Christ returns, or until we come to the end of our lives? And the Bible answers that question in the affirmative. Yes, God wants us to grow, and change, and mature. Making progress in the spiritual life is not only possible, but normal and expected. For example:
• It's normal that over time, we should become more joyful, and patient, and kind, and gentle, because those are the fruit of the Spirit, the results of the Spirit’s work in our life (Galatians 5:22-23).
• It’s normal that our faith should become stronger, so that our trust in God’s wisdom, and goodness, and power, and love increasingly gives us comfort and strength to meet the challenges of life.
• It’s normal that our love for God and for one another should become more fervent.
• It’s normal that the things we desire and value should come to reflect what God values, rather than what the world values.
• It’s normal that more and more, we should live to serve, rather than to be served.
• It’s normal that we should grow in holiness, that our thoughts, and conduct, and speech, and heart attitudes should become more Christlike.
All of those kinds of change, and many more besides, are normal. They are not exceptional. This is the standard for the Christian life, that we grow, and change, and mature. Let’s look at some of the Biblical evidence for that statement.
As Paul wrote:
“18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
“With unveiled faces”. That phrase is a reference to the time in the Old Testament, in Exodus 34, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai after speaking with God, and his face was shining, actually glowing. In fact, his face was so radiant that the people of Israel were afraid to come near him. And so Moses had to wear a veil to speak with the people, and then remove it whenever he went back to speak to God. What Paul is saying is that, like Moses, we have direct access to God through Jesus Christ. And that vision of God that we have been granted—through Christ, in the Scriptures, by the agency of the Holy Spirit—that vision of God is transformative. It changes us. So that the more we meet with him in prayer, the more we read and meditate on what the Scriptures tell us about him; his works and his character, the more we become like him.
The apostle John tells us this:
“2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
When Christ returns, when we finally see him in all of his glory—in all of his wisdom, and goodness, and love, and power—that vision of Christ will completely transform us. We will be changed; we will be like him. The difference between these two verses is that John is talking about our future, complete transformation at the return of Christ, while Paul is talking about a process of transformation that going on now, and that continues throughout our lives. So what does Paul say? “We are being transformed into his image”. This is something that is happening now. It is a continuous process in the present. It is also a progressive process; Paul says that we are being transformed with “ever-increasing glory”, meaning that we are becoming more and more like Christ, so that his glory is becoming more and more evident in us.
One more note in the verse from 2 Corinthians; the verb is passive, we “are being transformed”. And so it is not something that we do ourselves, by our own effort; it is something that God is doing in us, and to us, by his power. But that does not mean it is automatic, or that it requires nothing of us. More on that in a minute.
Let’s look at another passage which indicates that the Christian life is a life of progressive change and transformation.
“3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
“9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge |and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:3-6, 9-10)
What is Paul confident of? That the good work which has begun in them will continue, until it is fully and finally brought to completion on the day Christ returns. And so again, it is a continuous process. It is also a progressive process; Paul prays in verse 9 that their love would abound “more and more”. And what is the result of the work that God is doing in them?
• That their love would “abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight”
• That they would “be able to discern what is best”
• That they would be “pure and blameless”
• That they would be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ”
And so these are the kinds of changes that God desires to make in us as well. The theological term for what Paul is describing is “progressive sanctification”. That is the process of becoming more and more like Christ, a process that God began on the day we came to faith, and which he will continue throughout our lives, until it is completed on the day Christ returns. As verse six tells us, God is the one who began this work in us, and he is the one who will carry it on to completion.
By the way, in any of those verses we read, did you see a mention of an age limit? Does this process of becoming like Christ, does it level off, or plateau when we turn, say, fifty, or sixty, or seventy, or eighty? Or ninety? No. This is a lifetime process. And so as long as we are alive, we are to be changing. As Paul writes:
“16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)
Now, I’m doing what I can to slow down the “wasting away” of my outward body; you probably are too. But the point Paul is making is that the (sadly inevitable) deterioration of our flesh does not imply a corresponding spiritual decline. Someone might assume that, along with losing physical strength, and mental sharpness, we would also suffer a loss of spiritual strength and power. But precisely the opposite is true. Even as the one declines, the other continues to be renewed, over and over again, every day. Do you see that? And that is why this process of spiritual transformation, this process of becoming like Christ, doesn’t stop, or even slow down as we grow older. Because God is continually renewing us spiritually. I find that encouraging, don’t you?
OK. Second question. Is this process of change automatic? We saw in the verses we read a little earlier that the process of spiritual transformation is something that God does, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Is it then, something that happens no matter what I do? Should I just “let go and let God”? No, not at all. Spiritual growth requires intentional effort on our part. Yes, the power is all from God. But we have to cooperate with God in order to receive it. Listen to what Paul tells us in Philippians:
“12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13)
This is a key verse in understanding how the process of spiritual growth and maturity works in our lives, because it highlights both our part and God’s part. I’m going to look at it in some detail because it is so important.
First, when Paul tells them to “work out” their salvation, he isn’t saying that they are to earn or merit salvation. We need to understand that “salvation” has several components, a beginning, a middle, and an end.
• The beginning is “justification”. This is a one-time event which takes place when we first trust in Christ. It is a legal declaration by God that we are no longer guilty of sin, but that the guilt of our sin has been transferred to Christ, while the credit of his righteousness has been transferred to us. We have no part in our justification, other than to receive it by faith. It is a unilateral act by God.
• Following justification is “sanctification”, which is the lifelong process of being changed into the likeness of Christ. This requires us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work in us.
• Finally, there is “glorification”, when Christ returns and we are fully and completely changed, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 15. It will happen “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52). And this is also something that God does, without any requirement on our part.
And so when Paul tells them that they must “work out” their salvation, he is referring, not to justification or glorification, but to sanctification. The term “salvation”, again, can refer to justification, or sanctification, or glorification; and it can also refer comprehensively to the whole process, from beginning to end, beginning with justification and ending with glorification. And so it’s important to understand, in any given Scripture passage, how the term is being used. Here in Philippians, it’s referring to sanctification. Is everybody clear on that? Any questions? All right. Let’s go back to the verse:
“12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13)
As I said, this is a key verse because it highlights both our part and God’s part in sanctification. Our part is to “work out” our sanctification, “with fear and trembling”. We have to do something. But we are able to do our part only because it is God who is working in us. He is the one who is strengthening our will to live holy lives, and he is the one who is enabling us to carry out our holy intentions, enabling us to act in ways that carry out his purposes. Do you see the partnership there? Theologians refer to this as a synergistic process (like the word synergy), meaning that we work together with the Holy Spirit, we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, in this process of spiritual transformation. God provides the power, but we have to use that power. We have to act.
Let me give you a few verses which speak to our part in sanctification.
“29 But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)
“6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
“7 . . . train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. . . . 10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.” (1 Timothy 4:7-8, 10)
There’s a theme here, isn’t there? We are to seek God “with all your heart and with all your soul.” We must “earnestly seek him”. We are to “labor and strive”. And I could easily cite dozens of other examples of Scriptures which speak of the need for us to be wholehearted in seeking God. Because although God desires that we know him, and desires that we receive all the good things he has for us, he is not willing to be known by those who approach him aimlessly, or indifferently, or half-heartedly. In every other area of life, we know that having things of value requires work and dedication. It’s the same in the realm of the spirit. Like anything else of great worth, knowing God requires diligence, and labor, and effort. Is that a surprise to anyone?
I’ll share an incident from the gospel of Matthew that I think illustrates this very well. It involves two blind men who wanted to be healed.
“29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
33 “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.” (Matthew 20:29-34)
These men were desperate. They were blind! And there was no cure for blindness in the ancient world, whether it was blindness from birth, or blindness due to an illness or accident. But they had heard of this teacher Jesus, who was going from place to place performing miraculous healings. And here he was, passing right by them! This was their chance! They shouted out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd told them to be quiet, but they didn’t listen. “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” They kept calling, over and over, until Jesus stopped. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” And so he healed them.
Now, did Jesus have the power to heal them? Obviously, yes. And would he have had that power if these two blind men had remained quiet? Yes, Jesus would still have the power to heal, and they would still have a need. But in that case, they would not have received what they needed. It was only because they earnestly and desperately sought Jesus that they experienced his power to transform them. And we need to do the same thing. We need to earnestly desire to be changed, and we need to seek Christ’s power to change us.
Let me ask you: is following Christ the driving force in your life? Is that what motivates everything you do? Or is it more of a hobby, a side project, a pastime? That’s a hard question to answer, isn’t it? If we are seeking God earnestly, with all of our heart and soul, then everything we do, whether it involves our job, or our family, or our finances, or how we spend our time—everything in our life is a reflection of our desire to honor God with our days, to honor him with our choices. That desire drives everything. For example, it affects:
• The kind of job we do, and the way we do it.
• The way we allocate our time between work, and family, and hobbies, and private devotions or ministry activities.
• The way we allocate our finances and other resources.
• The sacrifices we make, and why we make them. Everyone makes sacrifices, don’t we? We can sacrifice time for money. Or vice versa. We can sacrifice the opportunity for a promotion in order to have more family time. Or we can do the opposite. But if we are seeking Christ, then the sacrifices we make, and the reasons we make them, will reflect that central focus.
What these verses, and the whole of Scripture, is telling us is that walking with Christ isn’t just one thing we do. It isn’t even a very important thing we do. Walking with Christ isn’t even the most important thing we do. Walking with Christ is our whole life, and all the things we do are just various ways of living out that relationship. In other words, some people will say that Christ has to be number one in our life. As you list out your priorities, whatever they may be, Christ has to be at the top. I disagree with that. Christ isn’t first on the list; he is the whole list. Everything we do should be just different ways of knowing and serving Christ. Does that make sense? That’s what it means to seek him with all of our heart. He isn’t a part, even the biggest part, of our life. He is our whole life. Otherwise, our religion is just a hobby.
Third question. How do we do this? How do we seek God earnestly, with all of our heart and soul? How do we train ourselves to be godly, as Paul instructed Timothy? The first thing I want to emphasize is that this is not just a matter of self-discipline. Your will and your determination are not enough. Why? Because the change you are seeking to make isn’t merely physical or mental, it’s spiritual. And spiritual change requires spiritual power. You can lose weight through the exercise of willpower. At least, theoretically. I hear that some people have done it. You can learn a language through sheer perseverance. But in the realm of the spirit, when we are talking about spiritual change, those aren’t sufficient. You need the power of God. Listen to what Paul writes in Ephesians chapter three:
“14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:14-21)
What’s the key word in that passage? It’s repeated three times. “Power”. Power from the Spirit of God. Power that results in Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith, verse 17. Power to grasp the fulness of Christ’s love; to comprehend its length and width and height and depth, verse 18. Power to know the love of Christ in our experience. Power to be filled with all the fulness of God, verse 19. Power to see God do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”, verse 20. Do you want those things? I do. Do you desire them strongly, earnestly, passionately? Then I have good news. They are available to us. Not through the exercise of our own strength and ability, but by tapping into God’s power. His power is what makes those things possible. As Jesus said in John 15:5,
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
That’s where the power comes from, the power to live every day for Christ, the power to grow and change spiritually, the power to see God do amazing things in us and through us, things we can’t even imagine. That power comes from God, it comes from Christ. And only as we “remain”, or dwell, or abide, in Christ will we experience that power, and continue to experience it.
Last question. So how do we do that? Let me give you some practical steps to take.
First, seek to discern what change God wants to make in you. Maybe there’s something that you already know needs to change. And God often helps us with this, by bringing into our lives people or experiences which highlight an area where our character could use some development. So think about your life over the last several months. Where did you struggle? Where did you not respond as you know you should have? Those are opportunities to listen to God as he speaks to you about an area where he wants to change you. And I’ll make a plug here for daily prayer. If you are praying regularly, and if your prayers include confession of sins (ACTS}, then it will likely be apparent what you need to change, because it will be whatever you find yourself confessing again and again. Maybe there are several things. It’s not a good idea to try to change everything at once, so in that case, pray and ask God where you should start. But identify one, or maybe two things. And then pray that God would exercise his power to change you in that area.
And keep asking, day after day and week after week. Not everyone is transformed instantly, like the blind men in the gospel; most people aren’t. Depending on how deep-seated the issue is, it may take some time to see progress. But you need to keep praying. How long? Until the prayer is answered.
Second, take some practical steps to change. Remember, this isn’t just you exercising self-discipline. This is you stepping out in faith, and depending on the power of God. So for example, if you determine that God would have you to grow in faith, then do something that requires faith, something that causes you to step outside your comfort zone. Offer to help someone when you don’t know how they’ll respond. Or ask someone else for help. Offer to serve in the church, in a way that requires taking a risk. Maybe you can think of several practical steps you can take, in order to make progress toward the change that you want to see, by God’s power. Write them down, and check them off when you do them.
Third, tell someone that you are trusting God in this area, preferably another believer who can pray for you. Give them permission to ask you how it’s going. Or even make it formal, where they check in every so often. That’s helps to keep you accountable.
And fourth, celebrate small victories. Change is a process, even when the power of God is behind it. Because we are stubborn and sinful people. And it’s not always a straight line; sometimes it’s two steps forward, one step back. So, for example, when you find yourself in a situation that would tend to cause you to lose your cool, and you send up a quick prayer to God for patience, and instead of getting all hot under the collar you respond calmly, then celebrate that. It’s a win. Tell someone. Treat yourself to a Starbucks latte. Celebrate it.
In conclusion, does God want us to change? Yes. And he wants us to keep changing throughout our entire lives, as we continue to become more and more like Christ in our thoughts, and speech, and attitudes, and actions. Until the day that Christ returns and our transformation is complete. Do we have the power to change? No, not in ourselves. But in Christ, yes, we do have the power to change. So let’s ask him to change us, ask him to make us more and more like him, as we seek him earnestly and wholeheartedly. And then let us take the practical steps that are needed, so that we can see his power transform us. Amen?
