Becoming Not Reinventing

This week's Daily Devos will focus on how to approach the new year in ways that help us become better versions of ourselves, in ways that are doable and sustainable.  

God knows, I need "doable and sustainable" ways to begin a new year.  I've learned over the years that simply making resolutions has never really worked that well for me.  Like most people, I always have the best intentions, but my New Year's resolutions tend to fall away rather quickly.  

It's not that I'm a particularly weak person; it's just that my resolutions for the new year are pretty lofty and generally unattainable. I dream of being a different person, reinventing everything about me, and becoming an idealized version of myself that I think I ought to be.  

The turning of the calendar often tempts us to believe that change requires reinvention. A new year, we assume, demands a new version of ourselves—more disciplined, more productive, more impressive. 

And we want it fast.  The advent of a new year can fill us with the hope that just wishing it all into existence will make it so.  

Yet Scripture consistently tells a quieter, slower, and truer story: transformation is not about becoming someone else, but about becoming more fully who God has already called us to be.

The apostle Paul reminds us, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Notice that this newness is not manufactured by effort alone. It is rooted in belonging. We are not projects to be fixed but people being formed. God’s work in us unfolds over time, shaped by grace rather than driven by pressure.

As a new year begins, the invitation is not to erase our past or reject our limitations, but to bring our whole selves—strengths, failures, habits, and hopes—into God’s patient presence. 

Becoming more faithful, more loving, more grounded does not happen through sheer willpower. It occurs as we remain open to the Spirit’s steady work, often in small, unseen ways.  It's frequently slow and requires patience.  

The danger of “reinvention” is that it assumes we can outrun our humanity. The gift of Christian formation is that it teaches us to inhabit our lives more honestly. God does not wait for a better version of us to show up. God meets us here, now, and begins again.

A new year does not demand perfection. It invites attentiveness. It asks whether we are willing to notice where God is already at work—and whether we will cooperate with that work, one faithful step at a time.

Growth rarely comes in dramatic leaps. More often, it comes through daily practices of prayer, repentance, courage, and kindness. The hope of the new year is not that we will finally get everything right, but that we will keep saying yes to the slow work of grace.

Prayer
Gracious God, as this new year begins, quiet the voices that tell me I must become someone else. Help me trust that you are already at work within me. Give me patience with myself, courage to grow, and openness to your transforming grace. Amen.

Reflection Questions

1. Where do I feel pressure to “reinvent” myself rather than receive God’s grace?

2. What might it look like to become more fully who God created me to be this year?

3. Which small, faithful practices could help me remain open to transformation?