Are you excited for a new year to begin? Or are you disappointed that a new year only reminds you that you didn’t make the progress you hoped to last year? Do you have a sense of what God is up to in your life for the new year? Or have you mostly given up asking Him to “fix” you? What if you could look at 2025 as a year of growing in wholeness?

I talk with many people who are frustrated or discouraged that their prayers for God to “zap” them out of their struggle haven’t worked. Doesn’t God hear me? Has He excluded me from being His child? Their addiction, sexual struggles, loneliness, anger, or anxiety is no better. What more does He want from me?

Others I talk with are simply worn out from trying harder to get themselves together, stop an unhealthy pattern of sin, and do what they know is “right.” They see God as disappointed in or even angry with them for continuing to fail. They’re exhausted and not sure how long they can hold on to hope.

If that describes you, you don’t need me to tell you that those mental traps keep you in misery. But God’s usual way of working is a quite different paradigm. Almost always His plan is to take you through a process of transformation, a process of growing in wholeness, becoming more and more of the person He originally created you to be.

And that’s why learning to work together with God will lead to a more fruitful 2025 in the best possible way.

Catching the Wind of the Spirit

Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

Have you ever made the wind blow? Of course not. But have you ever experienced the power of the wind? I was on a sailboat once; we were moving fast across the water with no motor, no oars. But for us to move at all required that we raise the boat’s sails to catch the wind.

How can you raise your sails to catch the wind of the Spirit? That’s what it means to cooperate with God. And that’s never truer than in your own process of becoming, your own transformation. You can’t white-knuckle it hard enough or long enough to change your own heart. And God won’t force transformation on you. He blows the wind of His Spirit, and your job is to cooperate. To say Yes. To believe Him. To follow what He tells you to do. To let down the walls in your heart enough for Him to enter in and do His work. (See Revelation 3:20)

At the risk of sounding too cookie-cutter or transactional, let me suggest some important aspects of embarking on a year of growing in wholeness, whatever your hang-ups may be.

1. Bring your real self to Jesus.

He already knows, of course. But as long as you hide, nothing will really change. It’s critically important to bring your real self to Him. Regardless of what your “stuff” might be, Jesus would say to you, “Just come!”

If you’re angry or frustrated, just come.

Feeling isolated and lonely? Just come.

Perhaps you’re embarrassed, ashamed. Just come.

Hurting from stuff you’ve experienced? Just come.

Hopeless? Despondent? Exhausted? Afraid? Feeling powerless? Just come.

Come to Jesus with that part of you. Open the door to that part of your heart. Let Him into that aspect of your life.

2. Find your people.

If #1 was hard, this one often feels even harder. You don’t want to let others see the messed-up parts of you. It’s likely you’ve tried already, and you might have felt even more isolated or ashamed by the way the people you reached out to responded. You’ve lived so much of your life in hiding you’re not even sure you can do anything else.

I am 100% certain there are other people you know who are struggling with something rather similar to you. It might be fear, rejection, anger, porn, bad money habits, physical illness, messed up family, or whatever. You are not the only one.

God designed us to heal through connection with others. You’ve likely been wounded in community; your healing will come in community too.

Determine that today, or this weekend, you will write down a list of a few people who might be safe. Pray over your list, and then reach out to one person. “God is working on me, and I know I need to connect with a few others. Might you be one of my people?” If they say Yes, share a part of your story, and see what God does.

It can also be helpful to reach out to a Christian counselor, a truly knowledgeable pastor, or another helper.

3. Keep showing up. Keep saying Yes.

The thing about a process of transformation is that it’s just that; a process. You can trust God to be in charge of your process, as long as you keep showing and keep saying Yes.

Keep putting yourself in the position to catch the wind of the Spirit. Keep sitting down to be quiet in God’s presence. Keep showing up where other people are worshiping Jesus. Don’t stop showing up with the one or few people you’re working to develop a connection with.

And when the Spirit brings your attention to a step you are to take, just say Yes. That might be saying Yes to:

• Pausing at a particular verse of Scripture to let it marinate in your soul
• Asking God’s opinion about a decision you would usually have made without asking for His input
• Reaching out to help someone else when you would rather not
• Telling your Christian friend or therapist about a shameful part of your story you have kept hidden
• Engaging in a mental health or spiritual health practice that seems too hard

God makes Himself responsible for your ongoing transformation. Your part is to keep showing up. And to keep saying Yes.

This year can be one of truly growing in wholeness.

Your turn: Where have you felt stuck? What place in your life or soul do you need to be growing in wholeness? What is the Spirit asking you to do that you need to say Yes to?  I’d love to hear your comments below.

Want more? Are you subscribed to our podcast? This week I share a teaser episode about what’s coming on the show in this new season. Listen or watch.

Tweetables: why not share this post?

• Excited about the new year? Or discouraged? Jesus would invite you into a year of growing in wholeness. That will require letting your walls down with Him and with others, and to keep showing up and keep saying Yes.   Tweet that.

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