New Year, New You
During my time in newspaper journalism, my boss requested a series of January articles. The series, titled “New Year, New You,” tackled such hard-hitting topics as spray tanning and eyebrow threading. I enjoyed reading my co-workers’ first-person accounts of trying to alter their appearance.
Of course, no one actually became a “new you.” My co-workers were still the same people except for a new orange tint or slightly different eyebrows. A person can’t become a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) by changing his or her outward appearance.
Sure, people can be fooled with a change of wardrobe, makeup, hairstyle and the addition or removal of glasses. The plots of Superman and Supergirl require us to believe that.
There’s no secret identity, however, when God examines a person. “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Only God can make someone a new creation, but becoming a new creation doesn’t mean we should stop trying to grow. “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).
Keep reading these pages for help in growing spiritually and making your God-given vision a reality in 2016.
Thanks, Erin!
For the past 11 years, Erin Eckberg has played an invaluable role in making this magazine an award-winning, visually appealing publication. She was promoted to lead designer when the magazine relaunched in July 2011, and she worked tirelessly to make last year’s redesign go smoothly.
Because Erin is leaving her position to focus on her growing family, this will be the last Light + Life issue designed by her (at least for the near future). Thank you, Erin, for your faithfulness, patience and hard work while using your talents to glorify God.
Features
- Feature: 8 Steps to Accomplish Just About Anything in 2016
- Bishops: Sated With Food, Jaded With Memories, Peering Toward August
- Action: Why I Hate New Year’s Resolutions
- Discipleship: Embrace the Chaos
- Free Methodist Church News: Donald E. Demaray | 1926–2015
- Free Methodist Church News: ‘Ordaining Women’ for a New Generation
