A Vision For 2026

The following video transcript has been lightly edited

The latest Apple Watch commercial shows, a bar stool, a bed, or a couch chasing the person wearing their watch. And rather than succumb to that racing couch, they check that they're halfway and they keep going. You know, one of the things that's true about our world is there's always. A tip or an idea that somehow is going to unlock the satisfaction of achieving all the things that we want.

And so we constantly are chasing after different things, wealth and health and prosperity, and fame and privilege, and hopes that once we get those things, we will achieve that level of happiness or satisfaction that we're looking for. David Brooks wrote a book called The Road to Character, and in that book he talks about how for him, he had achieved all of those things, but then would meet these other people that had some level of awareness and, and centeredness and authenticity that was really [00:01:00] attractive to him.

And what he learned in the midst of it is that what they were trying to build was something different. They were trying to build a sense of, of character, a sense of relational connectedness to the world, a sense that they were a part of something bigger. And so as you get off to 2026, as you get off to that start, I wanna offer you three things that I think Paul gives us.

To chase after that will actually produce the kind of satisfaction we want. And in Colossians, Paul says that the world was created by Christ, that Jesus was a part of it. That in Christ we've seen who God is. And he says, because of that, I want you to do three things. He says, I want you to clothe yourselves with compassion and humility and kindness and meekness.

I want you to bear with one another. I want you to offer forgiveness to one another as you've been forgiven, and I want you to put love on top of all of those things. And then in everything [00:02:00] you do in word deed, I want you to do it in the name of Christ. And I think what he sketches out here for us. Are three things that we can give ourselves the pursuit of in 2026 that will produce that kind of satisfaction that we're hoping for.

The first, we want to develop our character. The part of finding our identity in Christ is that we would grow in our own character. Two, we will experience relational transformation, relational transformation with God, relational transformation with ourselves, and relational transformation with others. And then finally, we wanna live a life of an integrated faith, meaning it's not in compartments, but it's something that shapes everything we do from work, to play, to family, to friends, to neighborhood, to community, all the things.

So let me dig in a little bit more and offer it up. Paul tells us to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, meekness, humility, and. [00:03:00] It's a great command because it's this reminder that we have to do something to achieve it. It's not going to be something that we just magically walk into, but we actually have to give energy and effort.

You and I give energy and effort every day to getting dressed and hear what Paul is saying is what I want you to do as I want you to be intentional about building character in your life. I want you to be a person who puts on humility, who puts on compassion. For us to build that kind of character, we have to do a few things.

First, we have to have an awareness of what good character looks like, and two, where do we sit in relation to it. Second, we have to be intentional about trying to grab a hold of some actions that will allow us to grow in it and be thoughtful about it, and then actually put those actions into effect. And so my challenge to you is what step of character development might you pursue right now?

Maybe for you it's patience, maybe it's humility, maybe it's compassion for [00:04:00] others. But as you pursue that, what it does is it transforms your experience of the world around you. And as you grow in character, you realize that the journey of life has plenty things within it that allow you to experience God and connect with others.

And so as you give yourself to growth this year in 2026, develop that character. You'll find it to be fruitful. Second, he gives us this charge of being relationally transformed, that we would know we are forgiven, that we would extend forgiveness to others, that we would bear with one another. Relational wholeness is such an essential part of our lives, and for many of us, we walk around with a difficult relationship within ourselves.

We feel disconnected from God. We feel disconnected from others. And Paul's thought for us is that we might embrace the fact that we have been forgiven and therefore turn it over and forgive others. You know, I think [00:05:00] for some of us, the past that we carry around with us does a lot of damage and there's some shame and guilt with all of that.

And so God's message to us is. Yes, there is a gap between what it looks like for you to be a flourishing human and how you sometimes are, but you have been forgiven that, and so you're set free. You're free to keep growing and renewing your character. And so therefore what it does is allows us to extend that grace to others.

And I think the other thing is it allows us to be aware of where we are, and as we're aware of our own shortcomings, we're that much more patient and kind and forgiving with other people's shortcomings. I think that's what Paul means when he says, bear with one another. We're bearing with each other's things, the stuff that we just carry around, and we just sort of know that to be true.

But we're grateful that they're bearing with us. And so we all do it together. So to experience that sense of satisfaction that we're [00:06:00] looking for, we're going to develop our character, we're gonna experience and lean into relational transformation with God, with ourselves, and with others. And then lastly, he says, in everything you do, word indeed do in the name of Christ.

So Word, indeed, every sort of. Thing you talk about, everything you think about and also all the actions you take do them in such a way in which you are doing them in the name of Christ. I, I think that a lot of times in our life, we operate like a lunch tray. You know, there's all the six different compartments and you put your food in those different compartments.

And the reality is, in our life, we have our different compartments. We've got our work compartment, and we got our friend compartment, we got our family compartment, we got our church compartment, and we've got maybe our golf league compartment, and we think of them as disconnected, and we operate in the different ways that we do in those spaces.

But what Paul encourages us, it says, no, no, [00:07:00] no. Because God has come into the world, because we have seen his life, death, and resurrection. I want you to live in a way in which your whole life is integrated in which your family and your friends, and your work and your neighborhood and your golf. Buddies and your school are all integrated through faith in which you are always looking to grow in character, to put on love, to offer forgiveness, to receive forgiveness, and to see your whole life as a chance to journey through the world, to anticipate the future of something that will be renewed and to be a.

Representation of that in your everyday world to offer grace and peace and hope as you've experienced it out into the world. And so as you approach 2026, I encourage you to lean into these three things. Develop your character, experience, [00:08:00] relational transformation, and integrate your faith into every part of your life.

And as you do those three things, what you'll experience is you'll experience that satisfaction that you're looking for. Looking forward to journeying with you here in 2026. Talk to you soon. Take care.