Refine Your Search
January 14, 2011
Having painted a picture of the person you want to be at the end of 2011, your natural tendency will be to haphazardly hang the still-wet canvas on the wall and start along the path of transformation. Yet, this reaction will have you running in a thousand different directions because numerous godly characteristics make up the person you desire to become. By attempting to instill each virtue all at once, the likelihood is youll quickly burnout and be frustrated when all of them do not take root.
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.
- 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 2011
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, weve talked about your hopes as well as the fears you have regarding change. Today we want to confront the tension you will experience as you begin your pursuit of your One Word. Wed love to hear your response to the following question: In what places are you already feeling tension and resistance to your One Word?
Picked my Word ON THE LAST WEEK OF THE YEAR. My word is “LOVE”. On 12/31/2010 my back went out unexpectedly, I spent the first 9 days of the new year on the floor, in prayer and medication and being encourage by KLOVE. My sons stepped in to help me. I am a stubborn woman, it is difficult to ask anyone for help. The fellowship I had with God was Amazing, It felt like I would not walk again, it only felt that way. Missed work etc. Monday was my first day back at work. I’m healing, almost back in the groove. As I was praying tonight the Lord was showing me how he was putting Love in Motion for me. It has made me desire to Love others even more. I was more patient and at peace this week. The reality hit me on the first day of the year, We really are not in charge of this Life,He is the giver of life. He is in charge of me and allows me to wake up if he sees fit. So if he sees fit for me to wake up each day I will Choose To Love. Love the unlikeable people and things in Life. It seems a lot easier when we feel like there is a threat of losing even something as basic as a job or something we love doing even for one day. I needed that wake up call, I absolutely know he is teaching me to Love Deeper. My boss told me yesterday he was boggled because I was so happy, I told him if you spend 9 days on the floor because of an injured back, You would would be grateful to be back at work too. But I know he wasn’t really boggled by my happiness. He was boggled by the Spirit of Christ’s Love. So Can’t wait to See what the rest of the year brings. Thanks Tony
In what places are you already feeling tension and resistance to your One Word?
This is my first time doing My One Word (heard about you on KLOVE). I chose Beautiful as my one word for 2011 and the verse I chose to go with it is 1 Peter 3:4 because I want to only myself as God sees me, not the way that I have learned to judge myself by the world’s yardstick. Almost immediately I felt the Holy Spirit’s prompting in the way that I react to things that happen in my day. Waking up, my drive into work, my day at work, customers requests, co-workers, the weather, my extended family and friends, etc. I do not have a beautiful, gentle and quiet spirit at all, my normal flesh pattern is a sharp tongue and quick flash of anger followed by a complaint. I know that God has made me a new woman through Jesus. One who has the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, but my flesh pattern has continued to be the most visible part of me. I’ve started wondering if I shouldn’t have chosed Gentle or Quiet as my one word instead of Beautiful. Maybe that means I did choose the right word after all, if I’m questioning it already?
I picked my One Word in the second week of January, FORGIVE. To forgive myself for wrongs I have done and others who have wronged me. Already had a few issues come up at work where I wasn’t quite honest with how things went down and it was because I was actually trying to help someone keep their job. Now I’m struggling with forgiving myself for basically lying about what happened. I hate liers and then I actually lied myself. It’s a hard road for me to realize that I need forgive myself and others and to let it go. It’s in the past, it’s done and over with….forgive and move on. I heard about One Word through K-Love also and this is my first “try” so to speak at it. Thank you for the opportunity to become closer to God and learn His ways.
My word is gratitude. I chose this word because I tend to view the circumstances in my life in a negative attitude. While I see myself as someone who is overall socially consious and aware of social justice issues globally, I tend to allow my feelings to affect my behavior especially at work. The verses I read today are very much centered around love, patience, kindness, joy and self-control. I do not always work as if I were working for the Lord. I allow what I see as “top down leadership” and micro-managing to make me very discouraged and resentful. The Lord has shown me over the last two weeks that is not behaviors that He wants me to allow to control my life. First of all, it is not healthy for me, it is not creating a positive work environment, and it is not building a positive image of Christ and what He has done for us. I am working to view all circumstances through the lense of gratitude. I am very grateful for the health benefits and insurance offered through my employer. Without it my partner and I would be struggling much more financially than we already do. I am grateful for the fact that I do have a job. I don’t want to become complacent because I do believe that I want to find another job, but until then I will work to do my best and find joy in the people and circumstances around me.
This is my first time doing My One Word. I love this concept! I chose FEARLESS at first, and then God refined it into COURAGEOUS and then into CONFIDENT as the final word. Since I’ve gotten the green light from Him to focus on this word, I’ve had many opportunities to put it into practice.
I had to bring my daughter into a new situation, and she was hesitant to walk into it, so I chose to be confident as a parent and lead her into the situation myself. This caused her to step up herself and leave me behind as she walked into the situation with her own confidence!
I also was given the opportunity to spend some time with some friends who, in the past, have tried to control me, define me, and make me feel less than them. I was able to put on my CONFIDENCE and walk into that situation very sure of who I have become in Christ! I believe they were surprised at the difference in me. But more than that, I was pleased with my growth and thankful for God’s strength with this word behind me.
I’m not naturally a confident person. It’s something I have to “put on”, like clothing, or armor, and purposely wear. It’s not always comfortable, but it’s necessary as I continue to grow into who I am in Christ Jesus. I know it won’t always be easy to put my confidence on, but the more I wear it, the more it will become part of who I am.
My one word is Delight. As in “Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” and as in “He delivered me because He delighted in.” For the past two years, my family has been challenged with my husband being unemployed. We’ve had a great deal of stress, frustration, and disappointed. This year I really want to have joy and focus on how much God loves me. Since choosing Delight to be my word, I have been challenged financially and physically. Satan is trying to sap the joy out of me by bombarding me with distractions. Fortunately, Delight is such an uplifting word that just thinking the word can lift my spirits. I need to be proactive about keeping the word in front of me throughout my day.
I think that I have felt tension and resistance from the day before I chose my word. It is a daily feeling. However, my perspective on my word STRENGTH has changed. As I read through the scriptures given in this lesson, I began to realize that strength embodies all the other words that are in there. I chose the word strength because I felt as though I needed it. I believed that if I asked God for the strength to come through the circumstances and accept His plan through them, that I would be okay. I believed that by Him giving me strength, it would show His glory. I am coming to realize that perhaps He gave me this word to make me realize two things: that He has already given my strength, and that I must work to use it. My exhusband has been trying to claim half custody of my children so that child support can be decreased. He has gone from a man having little desire to know what was happening in the lives of his children, to a person who is trying to show that nothing I do for or with the kids is the right thing. It has become a daily battle dealing with him. Also, it is a daily battle dealing with the feeling of inadequacy that he stirs in me. I have been reminded every day that to show the strength that God has given to me, I must forgive, love, trust, offer hospitality, serve, pray, and speak only the words of God. In this way, my strength is seen filtered through His glory.
For the last four years, I’ve been glad to choose the One Word God has shown me to choose. But this year I’m fighting it a little because it’s not one of the three I was trying to choose from a week or two ago…it’s PRAY. I pray all the time, but I don’t have longer, focused, daily periods of prayer where I can really listen to God…not like I have in the past, anyway.
I know it’s going to be a lot of work, but I know God will grow me–I’ve just got to get used to it and make a plan.
In what places are you already feeling tension and resistance to your One Word?
Wow! My word this year is patience. Until I settled on this word I actually considered myself a patient person. I am finding more and more that I am not as paitient as I once thought I was. I find myself constantly having to remind myself to be patient with myself, othes around me and with God. I’ve lost my job. To be honest… the fact that I lost my job shortly after choosing patience as my word is kind of scary. The irony has not been lost on me. If I chose patience and then lose my job – does that mean that it will be a very long time before God will provide me with another? Jeez! I hope not. While I have safeguards in place I certainly don’t want to deplete them.
I have become increasingly irritated with my 18 year old son. He gradutes this year and it appears as though he has not put any real thought into his future. He has such a free spirit that he only lives in the here and now. He doesn’t think about tomorrow or the next. Maybe that is a good thing. He’s not had a job since September – nor has he put forth a big effort to get one. He did the same thing last year but he also had three times the work load at school that he has this year. AND I was working last year. It is very troublesome to me that he is not in a big hurry to get a job. I don’t know where he thinks his gas money is going to come from. My fear is that he is becoming a smoocher, a hustler, a free loader. This is NOT the way I raised him! My first instinct is to have what I like to call a “come to Jesus” meeting and tell him how I feel. Of course to have any kind of conversation like that with him is futile. He’s 18. He knows it all. What do I know. I’m only his mother. Then I think ok….I will let him suffer the natural consequenses. But if I do that how long will he go until he comes to his senses? Will it be to late? Truthfully I don’t know that I am supposed to anything. He’s an “adult”. Right?
So yes…. I already have feelings of tension and resistance to My One Word. This is new for me. This is the first year that I feel like I have been thrust into action. Yet another place I need to practice patience. Great! It’s just popping up all over the place. 🙂
In what places are you already feeling tension and resistance to your One Word?
I’m experiencing resistance to My One Word, FAITH, in the most unexpected place. I’m a child care provider and have in my care a very young child whose particular behavior and personality is a challenge for me. As I contemplated how faith applies to this challenging relationship, a couple of things came to me. One, that faith IS relationship… I can’t be in faith without being in relationship to God. Two, this small child is a child of God, hence my relationship to her is part of my relationship with God.
Should be easy. She’s a beautiful child. She’s a CHILD. But I have found myself totally resistant to entering into a truly faithful relationship with her. And this has totally brought me up short. I’m a mother. I’m a caregiver at heart. I’m appalled at my response.
I’m discovering in writing this, in acknowledging this truth, that fear is what is holding me hostage. Fear of NOT being in control. Fear of letting go of myself, and letting another be in control – GOD. The fact that this is a tiny, innocent child so illuminates my fear… in terms of ‘loving your enemy’… Much easier to disguise the real fear if the ‘enemy’ is a little more substantial. I didn’t know I was a control freak! I’m afraid of truly giving God the reins, of truly letting go in faith. ……I love this journey…
In What Places are you Already feeling Tension and Resistance To Your One Word? First off, I would like to say I am not a “slacker”? LOL. I wrote a very long blog yesterday, after spending alot of time thinking, and really doing my home work, but when I hit Submit, I do not know where it went? I just got a error mesage, so forgive me if this seems late? I’m so sorry. With that said, I know I will not remember all the words of yesterday but I am giving it my best. Yes, I think that my Word I picked, with much thought, “OBEY”, is a good one, but, harder than I thought. I do not wish to change my Word, knowing it will be a huge challange.
Right now, I will say that I am having a hard time with my every day life. I lost my father less than 6 mo’s ago, and my sister Nancy, 36 day’s later to Adrenal, and brain cancer. Needless to say, my greiving is far from over. Then my siblings, two brother’s, and a sister, all younger than me, well they decided to not speak to me, WHY you ask, well so do I? I also am on disibility, not of my own doing, I would rather get up every morning and go to work, then keeping busy when I got home, oh, I miss those day’s. I have been divorced for 12 yr’s now, I still feel shame, and the desion was 100% mutual. I just thought ONE marriage was all I would ever want or need? I was married just short of 30 yr’s? That is a very long time. My x is very happily married now, and we are still friends, no bitterness at all. When dad passed on, Reid, my X, well he was paul beaer for my dad. I do not ever want to get married again, for me once was enough. My friends tell me I am not giving myself a chance to be Loved again, but……? There is certainly more, but I will not elaborate like yesterday. I almost wrote a book? LOL After I got my homework, and I read all the verses, wrote down several things from the passages, I am a little confused I must say. I purchased a One Year Chronicle Bible to read a chapter every day, and then I will have read the entire Bible in a year, with time to ponder over what I have read to the next day. I also read scriptures of my own every day, then I get two emails M-F to read, plus what my special friend Kim sends me daily? Wow, that is alot to think about all at once, and so many different scriptures to read. I think that I expect myself to “OBEY” these every day. I guess my perspective on Myoneword, I need to take a slower paced path than I originally thought I would.After reading the scriptures that were suggested, I found many words that stuck in my head, and really as just One Word,has so much meaning to it. Some of them that suck with me and still do and always will are: The Chosen,Love, Faithfullness, TRUST, Peace, Spirit, Forgiveness, Faithfullness, goodness, and Pray. I, of my own word I thought of, I CUDDLE with the word AMAZING!!! I truelly feel that all I have learned just of my second homework asignment so far, that I have chosen the right word, “OBEY”, and all I have read and studies will lead to my word by the end of the year. Tony, and all other Myone word friends, I thank the Lord, I have this special place to grow, and help me reach HIS Plan, the Lord has provided me with this opportunity to be here to help. Thank’s much Tony. Have a God Filled Day.
My word is Knowledge. I’m feeling overwhelmed (at times) with not enough hours in the day that taking 15 minutes for bible reading seems like something on the to do list! I am the resistance to my own word – I find other things to do rather than making a committment to Bible study (in addition to daily readings). My goal is to make Sunday a day of rest as God intended….church and bible study (1 hr) and then reading a recommended Christian fiction novel (Proverbs31ministries.comshe reads).