Write His Answer

Reprinted below, with permission, is a thought-provoking article. I encourage you to join me in choosing one word to focus on in the coming year. I’ll share mine in another blog.

ASSIST News Service (ANS) – PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA

Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A Matter of Faith
How One Word Can Change Your Life

By Carol Round

Special to ASSIST News Service

CLAREMORE, OK (ANS) — “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”—John 1:1 (NIV).

Illustration from myoneword.org

If you’ve never made a New Year’s resolution, you’re in the minority. However, we all have one thing in common—time. In an article for “Pulpit Helps,” author Steven B. Cloud wrote, “As we look into a New Year, we look at a block of time. We see 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds.  And all is a gift from God.”

Our lives have become so busy, yet we add to the burden each New Year by making a list of
resolutions that most of us will fail to accomplish—quit smoking, lose weight and get healthy or save more money. This is just a partial list but some of the more popular ones. That’s why we see so many advertisements promoting products and gyms to help us accomplish our goals. Stroll through the aisles of a bookstore and you’ll find so many self-help books, it’ll make you go cross-eyed with confusion.

One book, however, has the power to change your life. The Bible is filled with words of wisdom and encouragement. In Luke 11:28, Jesus says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Pastor Mike Ashcraft

In January 2007, Pastor Mike Ashcraft challenged his congregation to ditch their New Year’s resolutions and each pick one word to focus on that year. Embracing this new idea to approaching personal change and spiritual growth, church members realized the simple plan is more effective than making an overwhelming list of resolutions each year. Why? Called God’s instruction book for life, the Bible addresses every aspect of our lives—spiritually, physically, emotionally and financially.

Because we lead busy lives, we tend to focus on the surface-level of issues, forgetting God has numbered our days. Trying to manage our lives and our time, we fail miserably because we haven’t taken the time to seek God’s wisdom. Ultimately, says Pastor Ashcraft, that’s what the “My One Word” project is all about.

Willpower and self-effort only get us so far. When we’re overwhelmed with a long list, it’s even more difficult to achieve lasting change. That’s why, according to Ashcraft, the One-Word project works.

To choose a word for 2015, Ashcraft suggests asking the following questions:

1. What kind of person do I want to become this year?
2. What drives my desire to be this kind of person?
3. What characteristics define this type of person? Make a list.
4. Reduce your list to 10 words or less, research those words using a dictionary and Bible.
5. Choose one word from your list as your word for the year.
6. Choose a Bible verse that speaks to you about your chosen word and memorize it. This will provide a foundation of truth you can continually return to and will fuel your hope to change.
7. What initial expectations do you have regarding the impact of your word?

One word can change your life when it is grounded in faith.

Carol Round

Carol Round is a syndicated columnist, author, and speaker, who is available to speak at women’s events or to lead prayer journaling workshops. She has been writing her weekly column, “A Matter of Faith,” after retiring from a 30-year teaching career in 2005. Her five books include three collections of her columns: “A Matter of Faith,” “Faith Matters” and “By FAITH Alone.” In 2012, Westbow Press released her book, “Journaling with Jesus: How to Draw Closer to God,” with the companion workbook, “The 40-Day Challenge.” All of Carol’s books are available through www.Amazon.com or by contacting the author through ww.carolaround.com. For information on becoming a subscriber to “A Matter of Faith” for your newspaper or magazine, please contact Carol at carolaround@yahoo.com. Readers who wish to receive her weekly column by email may contact her through the same address.

See all ASSIST News articles atwww.assistnews.net

This story is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of the ASSIST News Service or ASSIST Ministries.

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
Send this story to a friend.