Your Annual Growth

The greatest gift you can give yourself is the development of your own character.
 
Think: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). 
 
You may or may not have a New Year’s resolution for 2020, but they typically rely on willpower. And willpower is like a battery with limited energy—it wears out and needs frequent recharging. That’s why resolutions so often fail. 
 
But if we use our willpower to develop simple habits that we do every day, the habits pave the way to accomplish what might otherwise elude us. We might add a new habit or change an old one.
 
Like me, you may count many unattained goals in your life. I learned that often happens because we don’t tie them into intermediate goals and regular habits by which they naturally come about. Perhaps the most overlooked aspect is that intentions become reality mostly through who we are.
 
Here’s where I encourage you to consider the Annual Growth Commitment. It’s a commitment to grow in a particular area of your personal character by the habit of
1. Committing it to daily or frequent prayer.
2. Doing your practical part in agreement with that prayer.
 
I’ve been doing it since 1986, and over time it has transformed me. Ask my wife!
 
In the Online Library under the menu bar above, you’ll find a section with a half-dozen items under “Live by God’s Word and Spirit.” Among them is a PDF that explains the Annual Growth Commitment and includes cards to cut out if you so desire.  Click here: Your Annual Growth Commitment. This is an effective way to live out Romans 12:2.
 
The agreement between prayer and personal habits, in alignment with God’s Word and Spirit, can become an unstoppable force.
 
May you personally experience that in 2020.