Becoming the Best Version of You
Now that we have stepped out of 2022 and into 2023, I have a question for you. What did you bring with you? Whatever you brought with you into 2023, will it help you to become the best version of you? Or did you bring some things with you that maybe should have been left back in 2022? Things that would hinder you or slow you down, keeping you from becoming the best version of you; fears, doubts, relationships, how you see yourself, what others think of you, bad habits, learned behaviors that do not benefit you, etc. I thought I had done the latter but realized very quickly that I had brought some things with me that I should have left.
The best part about stopping now and thinking on this, is that we can do something about it before we get too far into the year. Yes, it’s something we can stop and change at anytime during the year but there’s no better time than the present. And why waste time? My desire this year is to be more productive and effective; the best version of me. How about you? And I believe Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
So, instead of making “New Year’s Resolutions” let’s renew our minds. The Word of God when not simply read and quoted but meditated on and allowed to become a part of us will renew our mind. The Word of God cleanses us as confirmed in Ephesians 5:26b The Passion Translation (TPT), “…cleansing us through the showering of the pure water of the Word of God.” As our minds are renewed and we are cleansed through God’s Word, we become the best version of ourselves. Because our way of thinking, talking and doing are being replaced by God’s way of thinking, talking and doing; Romans 12:2 MSG, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
Ephesian 4: 22 -24 The Passion Translation (TPT) reads, “And he has taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, the old self-life, which was corrupted by sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions. Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you. And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ- within as your new life and live in union with him! For God has re-created you all over again in his perfect righteousness, and you now belong to him in the realm of true holiness.” Becoming the best version of ourselves means becoming more like God. We are not perfect, and we cannot do this on our own but when we accept Christ, God’s Son, we have the perfect one living within us. Ephesians 4: 22-24 let’s us know we are transformed as we embrace Christ as our new life.
Embracing Christ as our new life includes spending time in the Word of God, spending time in prayer, spending time with other true believers. As stated above, as we become more like God we become the best version of ourselves. No one knows us better than the one that created us. Jeremiah 1:5a reads, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee…” He knows us, he created us, he created us to be like him. He knows more about what is in us than we do, and as we become more like him, he will begin to show us those things and ideas he has put in us. Things and ideas that will not only bless us but others as well.
Let’s become the best version of ourselves in 2023!
If you haven’t accepted Christ and would like to, pray this prayer:
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite you to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow you as my Lord and Savior.
