“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” -Philippians 2:13-14
In our Christian lives, we are working out what God has worked in; there is our part and there is God’s part.
Would you like to become “a new you” in 2018? Do you want to see spiritual change? Here are six tips to put into practice.
1. Run to win! “Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win” (1 Corinthians 9:24 NLT). There is no point in running for second or third place. Go for the gold!
2. Get rid of extra weight and hindrances. “Lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). You don’t want excess baggage in the race of life. Are you surrounding yourself with stepping stones or stumbling blocks?
3. Aim for success, not failure. “I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. . .that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:8, 10). Knowing Christ is the goal, and no matter how well you did spiritually last year, there is still far to go!
4. Have a clear objective and focus. “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27:4). Is your aim in life clear and singular?
5. Don’t look back! “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. . .” (Ephesians 3:13). Learn from the past, but don’t live in it. Break the power of past sins by living for the future!
6. Press on, even when it gets hard! “Press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:14). Now is not the time to back off or slow down but to give it your all.