“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” — Ephesians 4:22-24

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For Major League Baseball teams, this time of year is critical. Assuming a team didn’t make it to the playoffs, it’s a period of stepping back and evaluating the most recent season, deciding if it’s best to continue with the plan, people and structure in place, or if it’s necessary to make a change. Over the next several weeks, sports headlines, tweets, podcasts and reports will be filled with discussion over the hiring or firing of managers, the trading of players, the signing of other players, and the raw yet real truth of what went right or wrong in certain organizations during the year. One could argue it’s a messy, uncertain time, to say the least.

In the simplest of terms, this offseason period is, for multiple teams, a house cleaning. Front office staff and owners talk through what no longer serves their objectives and what transitions or adaptations must be made in order to go into the next season with some positive momentum. All options are on the table. Nobody’s job is safe, really.

It’s a tense time for most involved. But those in the team’s leadership understand that it’s a part of the business. You must reassess every year what needs to remain or go in order to move the organization’s goals forward, particularly if the team has been struggling or is trying to rebuild.

Yet, it’s also important to understand that this evaluative process must also happen at the individual level for you and me. Especially if we consider ourselves to be a Christian, this process actually must happen on an almost daily basis if we are to properly grow and mature into the person God envisions for us to become. Just like with athletic teams, it can be very easy to get comfortable in the way things have been done, to start settling for what is familiar and routine instead of being willing to shake things up a bit or even start over.

Most of us often forget that the journey of walking with Jesus isn’t just about forgiveness of sin or eternal assurance; it’s about transformation — an invitation into a whole new way of life that will undo everything we’ve ever known and move us into something better than we could ever dream.

Ephesians 4 speaks of the necessary process we all must undergo if we are to change into who God wants us to be. There is a taking stock of what no longer serves us — a setting aside of the old ways, the old self, the old desires — and adopting new attitudes, new perspectives, a new self that is reflective of the character and heart of Jesus.

As with anything, this process will involve some pain, sacrifice and surrender. There will be tearing down in order to build back up. What no longer serves you may require you to let go of or walk away from something meaningful. But the end result is that when you keep saying “yes” to God and letting Him transform your life by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2), what remains is something of far greater worth than whatever was stripped away.

What no longer serves you?

— Katherine Singer

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