"New Year, New Me." This is the phrase we hear so often after the holiday season, and with the New Year moving full-steam ahead, NOW is the time to start all of our BIG resolutions (many times continuing those resolutions from what we did not finish from last year).

One of the most common resolutions we hear about is people wanting to lose weight. Almost everyone wants to go to the gym, shred all the fat off their body, and build up their muscles so they look GREAT when they go to the beach in the summer. But, what so often happens is someone will work out one, two, maybe three days the first week, and it is a lot harder than they thought it would be. Working out IS in fact hard, and it requires lots effort and time - two things we are constantly falling short of.

We have to make something clear, though - muscles will not grow if they are not worked out. What does all this have to do with faith? Well, in the same way, our faith will not grow if it is not worked out. I love the idea of working out because it's a physical representation of our spiritual lives. When we workout, our muscles are stretched - stretched so much that they begin to break. Similarly, this is how our faith can be sometimes - as we walk with God, we so often get into these situations where we feel so stretched, so exasperated, so exhausted - and sometimes we even get to the point where we are breaking. But James tells us that there is reason behind this -

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." -James 1:2-4 (NIV)

James tells us not only that there is reason behind the trials that stretch us, but that we should rejoice in them! Though this is so counter to our natural way of thinking, it does bring God Almighty glory when we live our lives rejoicing through the hard times!

In order to achieve the best results after working out, we are encouraged to fill our bodies with good nutrients and get rest - all so that the working out will not be in vein; for it is the recovery process that allows our muscles to grow. Over time as we put good things in our body, we get good things out of them - it is the same spiritually - as we put good things in our spirit, we get good things out of it i.e. GROWTH. Accordingly, we must fill our spirit with the Word. For example, when tempted, Jesus told the tempter -

"It is written: 'man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." -Matthew 4:4 (NIV)

We must not only be filling ourselves physically, but spiritually as well. As we eat (physically) our stomachs grow, but if we go without food for a prolonged amount of time, our stomachs shrink. Interestingly, this correlates spiritually as well - if we pick up the Bible and read Matthew 22:37 (NIV) - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," we will only see that this is what we should do. However - if we read more verses, more chapters, and more books within the Bible, we will not just see that this is what we should do, but we will see and discern how to do it.

Growth requires us to get uncomfortable - and whether that means doing things we've never done before - like teaching or evangelizing - or things as little as waking up and being accountable, stewarding the day and life that God has bestowed to us - it's all needed to grow. We can never grow if we stay comfortable and are not stretched. We must not be at all timid for timidity results from insecurity - and that is not how God desires for us to live.

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” -2 Timothy‬ ‭1:7‬ (NIV)

It's going to take the power of His spirit within us to grow - that is what it takes for everyone. Don't let what has not happened yet prevent you from making it happen. God has given us opportunity after opportunity to grow and bring our character to more like that of Him. Don't be controlled by fear or insecurity. As we grow and stretch, we do in fact get GAINS. But all of this, is not for our own pride or ego. No. It is for someone much greater than ourselves. Growing and becoming more like Christ, is all because of God's power within us. So He is the one to get the glory, not you or me.