Have you ever paused to think about where you’ll be—or who you’ll be—five years from now?

Here’s the sobering (and hopeful) truth: you in five years isn’t a mystery. That person is being shaped right now by the choices you’re making today.

As we step into a new year, I sometimes worry that we think too small. We overestimate what we can change quickly and underestimate what God can do over time if we stay faithful. Romans 13 gently but firmly calls us to wake up, pay attention, and not drift through life unaware of what God is doing. Time is short—and it matters how we live.

Five years is long enough to grow deeply in faith, reshape habits, strengthen relationships, and become more like Christ. It’s also long enough to drift, to harden our hearts, or to settle into patterns that slowly take us somewhere we never intended to go.

Here’s the truth: our habits, reactions, and priorities are forming us—quietly and steadily—every single day.

Future you will simply be an exaggerated version of current you. And that’s actually good news. Because if you don’t like what you’re becoming, then with God’s help, you can change what you’re doing.

Not through quick fixes or bursts of spiritual intensity—but through consistent, faithful choices. Small steps. Daily obedience. Steady devotion.

Years ago, I met someone who transformed their life in the least dramatic way possible. There was no crisis. No big announcement. No “new year, new me” moment. Just a simple decision: I’m going to show up a little differently each day.

They started small. Ten minutes of walking most mornings. A short prayer before checking their phone. One chapter of Scripture instead of one more episode at night. Nothing flashy. Honestly, nothing anyone else would have noticed.

At first, it felt like nothing was happening. Weeks passed. Then months. The progress was so quiet it almost felt disappointing—but they kept going.

A year later, they were calmer. More grounded. Their relationships were healthier. Their body was stronger. Their faith had roots, not just ideas. Five years in, people started asking, “What happened to you?”

The answer was simple: nothing happened overnight. Everything happened over time.

They didn’t become a different person. They became a truer one—shaped by thousands of small, faithful choices stacked on top of each other.

That’s how transformation usually works. Not loud. Not fast. Just slow, steady obedience that, given enough time, produces remarkable results.

Five years from now is coming either way.
The question is: who do you want to be when you get there?