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Making Change Stick With A M.O.W. Account

Without something that prompts us to move, we will gradually drift back to our old ways. Slowly things will return to status quo. In terms of our personal growth, reminders enable new habits to become engrained in our character by triggering our memory. This is the conclusion we’ve come to over the past few years as we’ve listened to people who have participated in the My One Word project. Those who found a way to keep their word before them saw progress and transformation while those who failed to set up a trigger were left frustrated wondering why growth never occurred.

As we began planning the layout of the My One Word blog for 2010, we brainstormed ways to come alongside people and help them engage in their word throughout the year. We believe we’ve done just that by developing personalized My One Word accounts. We know that sticking with your word is hard, so we are adding this account feature as a tool to help keep your word in front of you all year long. In essence, registering for an account is like writing a big post-it note that reminds you that you desire change.

Right now with an account you can:

• Share your word on the My One Word website
• Receive personalized emails that remind you about your word
• Sign up for our newsletter letting you know about updates and new features on the My One Word website

In the future we will be adding these features and more:

• A personalized interactive online journal you can use to answer the questions posed on the blog each week to help you track your progress with your word
• Connect your My One Word account with your Facebook account and share your word with friends on Facebook.

We can’t encourage you enough to go and sign up for an account. This valuable tool will help you reflect your word throughout 2010.

Change Is A Community Effort

Over the course of the past few days, you have been reflecting on the person you feel God wants you to become in 2010. Unfortunately, sometimes you are so close to a situation that you get tunnel vision and begin to second-guess your perspective. Chances are good you have created a list of potential words, but you find yourself wondering how to make a final decision on the direction you will take. Our recommendation is to invite someone else to join you on your journey by seeking out his or her wisdom. Even though you must rely on the Holy Spirit for direction, God also uses people to bring perspective to your life that you are unable (or unwilling) to see at times.

Who is the person you trust the most?  Do they care deeply about the well being of your character? Hopefully, this individual possesses the ability to see the potential in you and is willing to do whatever it takes to encourage your growth and transformation. In essence, they care more about your character than your friendship. True change takes a community effort. Each one of us needs a few people to tell us the truth about our heart, point out our weaknesses, and check for our blind spots.

• Share with this person the words you are considering for the My One Word project. As you are sharing your thoughts, pay close attention to their response and the words that are met with affirmation and confirmation.  Do they affirm that your word is an area that demands your attention? Do they confirm that a certain word seems to be a place where God is working in your life?

FOR THOSE THAT HAVE ALREADY PICKED THEIR WORD FOR 2010

The reason you chose the word that you did is because this godly characteristic does not come naturally to you. This is where the implementation of disciplines comes into play.  The point of disciplines is to “do something you can do in order to do something you can’t do.” You establish disciplines until they are dissolved into your character. While many of us shy away from discipline, there are many benefits to the struggle we experience as the depth of our character is tested and trained. Disciplines put you in a place where God can transform your heart. As you are starting your one word journey, take some time to reflect on what disciplines you need to set up in order to pursue your word more deeply.

• Read 1 Timothy 4:7-9. What disciplines will you incorporate in response to living out your one word?

Many of you have been down this path of change before and, for whatever reason, something got the better of you. It caused you to wave the white flag in surrender and retreat back to your old ways. This time you want things to be different. Start now by identifying the bumps in the road you will inevitably encounter. We’d love to hear your response to the following question: What do you see as the biggest roadblock that you will face when it comes to living out your one word?

My One Word Featured On K-Love

On Thursday, the Christian radio network K-Love highlighted My One Word on their radio broadcast and website. Excitement was buzzing through the air as staff members at PC3 huddled around laptops to listen to the live web stream.  The radio hosts did an amazing job articulating the heart behind the project. I have to be honest that at first it felt a bit odd hearing the radio hosts and listeners talk about what word they would use as a lens to shape their character in 2010.

Eventually it sunk in that people throughout the world have jumped aboard this movement to see how God works in our lives when we pursue His heart by focusing on a single word.  For our new fans and followers, we are honored that you are coming along on this journey of picking one word instead of having a New Year’s Resolution. We look forward to hearing how your word impacts you and those around you in 2010.