Then I began to think what if they did the same type of show, only with someone’s spiritual life?  Would we be so captivated by it?  Would we find ourselves silently rooting for a complete transformation?  I’d like to think that we would.  But, here is the thing, the opportunity for an extreme makeover is presented to us daily when we wake up, make choices throughout the day and go to sleep.  Are we going to live our life out of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? By focusing on your one word you’re posturing yourself for transformation to take place in your life. Those ugly places of our heart are being redeemed so they beautifully reflect God’s heart.

This is fundamentally about change. How is your life going to reflect more of God in one year than it does today? The reality is that you have no idea what is going to happen in your circumstances and no way to control it. But, your character and heart for God is a matter of faith and posture. You may not change the whole world, but you are positioning yourself through your one word to make an impact and steward the influence you’ve been given.

There is no television show for you to go on, no quick fix or fancy reveal.  This is life.  It takes faith and trust in God and the big reveal happens each time you are given the opportunity to respond to your one word and you choose the path that reflects the fruits of the spirit.  I’m captivated and I’m ready to see your extreme makeover. With this in mind, I want to pray for your experience with My One Word by echoing Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus:

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

Your One Word is about change, but not just change.  We hope that God will do some great things in your life and that you character will be impacted by your pursuit.  Yet, life change is not about being better, but about being alive.  God has promised us the very fullness of Himself as we pursue Him and surrender our lives into the work of His hands.  We’d love to hear your response to the following question: How do you hope the change in your posture and focus will help you experience more fullness in your life and relationships?

While reflecting on the condition of your heart during the last blog post, you were forced to confront the emotional baggage you continue to carry. There will be a tendency to pick a word out of guilt and utilize it in a way it was never intended: to make up for regrets of the past. Guilt never produces lasting transformation. Your word must move you forward by keeping your life heading into the promise of the future. The hope that you cling to is that even though the past cannot be fixed, it can be redeemed. The past maybe irreparable, but the future is always available. Take a moment to reflect on the motives behind the words you are considering.

• Read 1 Peter 5:7. Are any of the words on your list driven by the desire to make up for past mistakes? How is this causing you to continue to hold on to the burdens of the past? Which word(s) seems to propel you forward towards the hope of future change?

FOR THOSE THAT HAVE ALREADY PICKED THEIR WORD FOR 2010

The idea of relationships is simply about connecting or more importantly finding a connection.  The implication is that you must be proactive by searching for these points of connection and common ground.  Then you need to go a step further and bear with one another instead of checking out or running when things get too personal.  You want so desperately to be known; yet you set boundaries up in your mind.  If an individual gets to close to those boundaries, you start to rethink your connection to them.  When it becomes personal, it becomes dangerous.  People might actually figure out that you don’t have it all together.

We all fool ourselves into believing that we are the only one who has destructive habits, a past full of regrets, and flaws they cannot correct. The truth is everyone is crazy and we all need people to keep our craziness in check. Living authentically means being vulnerable and transparent. Before you begin the journey with your one word, reflect on the individuals who can come alongside you and encourage your growth.

• Would you say you are known inside of community? Who are the people that have come along side you in your pursuit of living out your One Word?

Let’s explore this idea that community plays a critical role in our effort to reflect Christ’s heart. Community is something we desire, but at the same time fear. We’d love to hear your response to the following question: What compels you to share what Christ is doing in your life? What holds you back?

If you have been participating in the assignments on the blog over the past few days, you’ve begun to realize that there are parts of your heart where the ‘Check Engine’ light is glowing. Maybe you’ve ignored the signs because, like those 10% of drivers, it appears that life is operating properly. Yet, every so often, an unfavorable behavior comes out of nowhere and you know things are amiss inside your heart. Through the picking of your word, you are declaring the time has come to not only diagnose the problem, but also repair what is broken. Being intentional about your word prepares your heart to face whatever comes your way. In order for this to take place, the word you choose needs to deal with the issues occurring in the depths of your heart. Spend a few moments reflecting on the following question:

• Read Proverbs 4:23. Which word do you feel speaks most clearly to the issues taking place inside your heart?

FOR THOSE THAT HAVE ALREADY PICKED THEIR WORD FOR 2010

How will God transform you in the New Year – prayer, attitude, integrity, tenderness or patience? What will be the one word that defines you in 2010 – joy, gratitude, forgiveness or contentment? In what area of your life will you be able to see God move – consistency, peace, kindness or humility? Whatever your word may be, you have committed to being part of an experiment to see what happens when people focus on one thing to force clarity and develop direction. Begin now by setting up ways you can engage your word so at the end of the year you will be able to stand before God with a wiser heart. Take the time necessary to arrange your life in order to put your word into action.

• It has been said the normal natural pace of life is not going to push you towards spiritual formation. How have you begun to arrange your life for God to move through your one word?

At the beginning of this blog, we talked about indicators that cause the ‘Check Engine’ light of your heart to illuminate. They’re different for each one of us. We’d love to hear your response to the following question: As it relates to the word you’ve chosen or are considering, what warning signs alerted you that something wasn’t right with your heart?

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?

Instead of letting the wet paint run and blur your vision for change, you must take the time to narrow your focus. When you invest time and energy into developing a certain aspect of yourself, it will positively effect and spill over to other areas of your character. To help refine your search, examine a few scriptures that speak of virtues that have the potential to become your one word.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Colossians 3:12-17

1 Peter 4:7-11

Galatians 5:22-23

• Read the scripture passages found above. What are some words found in these passages that resonate with you? Why do you seem to be drawn to these words?
• Write down the words that, to this point, have stuck with you. Keep these words in highly visible places (bathroom mirror, bible, car dashboard, refrigerator, workspace, etc.) so you will be able to wrestle with them throughout the upcoming days.

FOR THOSE THAT HAVE ALREADY PICKED THEIR WORD FOR 2010

Your one word provides a lens not only to see your life and what God wants to do through you, but it also allows you to view and respond to your circumstances differently.  Rather than just responding to life, you are proactively looking for ways to put your word into action. Keeping your eyes focused on God is the key to being formed into His image, because what you see determines the direction you go.

• In what ways are you going to use your word as a lens through which you will view life, God and your circumstances?

So far, we’ve talked about your hopes as well as the fears you have regarding change. Today we want to confront the hesitation you have towards the person you will become through your one word.  We’d love to hear your response to the following question: In regards to your word (or potential word), why do you NOT want to become this type of person?

Today we turn our attention to a different picture. This is a picture that propels you forward. Rather than attempting to avoid the person you were or stopping a negative behavior, we want you to begin painting a picture of the person you want to become. This image must go deeper than outward appearances by focusing on the changes that need to take place deep inside your soul.

• How would you describe the person you want to be at the end of 2010? What are some characteristics that would define this person?

FOR THOSE THAT HAVE ALREADY PICKED THEIR WORD FOR 2010

This project is not about quick-fixes or putting a band-aid on a bad behavior. It is intended to produce long-term results.  We want you to have expectations that your one word will become embedded in your character and begin to flow out of you naturally. For this to take place, it requires putting yourself in a position where God can transform you. People do not grow in the image of Christ by accident or osmosis. When you take the time and intention to focus on your word, change begins to seep into your character.

• What effect do you hope your word will have on your character? How will you have to posture yourself to make that change a reality?

Our last post posed a question regarding the apprehension that we all feel when faced with change. Somehow in the midst of that fear there is a part of hope and excitement that resides within us. We’d love to hear your response to the following question: What excites you the most about the road ahead of you with your One Word?

With these apprehensions in mind, we wanted to spend the first few blog posts calming your nerves by helping you choose your word for 2010. The first step towards growth is to take inventory on the past year and see where God has moved in your life. Before moving forward, one must look backwards. Take a few moments and reflect on the following questions:

• Do you feel that in the past year you have progressed or regressed in your relationship with Christ? What shortcomings have you observed in your character over the past year?
• What emotions and baggage are you bringing into the New Year?
• If someone were to ask what God had taught you this past year, how would you answer them? If you were honest, would your response be just lip service?

FOR THOSE THAT HAVE ALREADY PICKED THEIR WORD FOR 2010

We know that there will be some of you that have put the wheels in motion towards growth and have already selected your One Word. It encourages us to know that you see the benefit of this experiment and we are excited to see how God will shape you through this experience Utilize these first few blog posts to find your pace. Each post will include an exercise or question to prepare you for the journey.

Today’s exercise is a reminder to anchor your One Word with God’s word. If scripture is not the basis for our change, this experiment will be nothing more than a practice of our fragile human ability to evoke change in our lives apart from God. When times get tough and discouragement sets in, you can keep going back to the truth found in these verses for reassurance and reflection.

• If you haven’t done so already, take a few moments to select a few core verses that inspire and support your word.

Regardless of whether you’ve picked your word or not, the truth is we all have apprehensions about the road the lies ahead of us. We’d love to hear your response to the following question: What are your fears about picking a single word that defines you in 2010?