New Year Reflection
Who are you becoming?
That is the question I find myself asking yet again. It is a crucial question we should all ask ourselves. Not just once, but repeatedly. Why? Because who you are becoming is the most important thing about you. Sure, getting in shape is great, reading more books will likely make you smarter, and gardening will make you happier (my personal opinion). But investing in who you want to become is far more important.
If you were to take an inventory of the last year, which characteristic would you say stood out in your life?
Was it peace? Was it joy? Or was it something we would rather not admit? Worry? Anger? Shame?
The new year offers us an opportunity to be honest with ourselves. I invite you to do a deep reflection. Would you take some time to sit with these questions?
Who am I? If I were to define who I am today, what words would I use?
What in me has kept me from trusting God with my whole life?
What parts of me do I hide from God? What am I afraid to lose?
Where did I see God’s hand over my life this past year?
Where did I see Christ’s character formed in my life?
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV
Reflection is good for the soul. When we live at a pace that never allows us to slow down and reflect, we miss the chance to take an honest inventory of our lives.
Reflection helps us discern our direction. It allows us to pause long enough to ask not just where we’ve been, but where we’re headed.
I came across this excerpt in a devotional by Jon Tyson, pastor and writer in New York City:
“Bronnie Ware was an Australian Palliative care worker who spent eight years working with patients in the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. During this time, she witnessed consistent patterns in the regrets expressed by dying patients from a wide variety of backgrounds. Here are the top five deathbed regrets as she recorded them.”
“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
“I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.” (Every single man said this)
“I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
“I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
“I wish that I had let myself be happier.”
As we begin a new year—no matter how it finds us—I pray we take time to reflect.
I often think about myself in my 80s or 90s. I don’t want to live a life I’ll eventually regret. I think about what my sons might say at my eulogy—what my wife will say. There’s already so much I regret. The way I’ve spoken to my wife at times. The way I reacted with anger when one of my kids did something. I find it’s been so revealing of my true character. It frightens me sometimes.
But I’m deeply moved by what Jon Tyson goes on to say:
“Yes, it's true that you can't undo your past, or erase the failures, the wasted years, and the regrets, but grace lets you start again. You can’t undo how your story began, but you can decide how it ends. The gift of repentance is godly fuel for the time we have left.” — Jon Tyson, Pastor and Writer in New York City.
Have you drifted far from the way of Jesus? You can’t change the past, but you certainly can change the trajectory of your future. Repentance is a gift. It allows us to receive the grace of a new start in Jesus.
Sometimes a new year finds us well. Sometimes it marks the best year of our lives. And other times, if we’re honest, we’re simply eager to turn the page—because the year behind us was painful. Some years ask more of us than we feel able to give. And we carry an unspoken weight—of what we’ve endured and what still lies ahead.
That’s when worry begins to set in. And honestly, it has every reason to. What challenges will this new year bring? Here’s the thing about worry, though: it produces nothing good in us. Instead, it quietly whispers that everything depends on us.
But is there another way?
The Apostle Paul offers us another way:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
— Philippians 4:6–7
There is something sacred about prayer—about supplication, about our desperate cries for help.
Prayer returns us to dependence. It reorients our hearts and reminds us that everything does not depend on us. We are not self-sustaining. We were never meant to carry the future alone.
Yes, part of our future is shaped by the decisions we make today. But here’s the beautiful thing about following Jesus: who we are becoming is ultimately the work God is committed to doing in us. The Apostle Paul says it this way:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10 ESV
You are His poema—His work of art. And the good news is this: He is more committed to us than we are to Him.
As this year begins, I pray we would take a deep inventory of where our decisions and habits have led us. This year is a fresh opportunity to allow God’s Spirit to form Christ’s character within us.
Yes, I want to live a life that limits regret. But the reality is, I will still make mistakes. There will likely still be things I wish I had done differently. Yet one thing I will never regret is the formative life of following Jesus.
Structuring my life around His vision has not been easy—but it has been deeply rewarding. The conversations around Sabbath dinners. The cries poured out in prayer. The moments of sensing God’s nearness while reading His Word. The faith stirred as we worship together.
It has formed Christ’s character in me—day by day, week by week, and year by year.
And I invite you to do the same.
Follow Jesus with us. Structure your life around His vision of life. We won’t get everything right—but it will be a life worth living.
