Praise God for the far He has brought us. I am sure some of us are relieved, optimistic, while others are excited and anxious about the new year 2025.
At whatever point you are, the decisions you choose will shape destinies. Either way, we must choose courage over fear, hope over despair, love over hate, good over evil, Christ over crests.
Advent, the season proceeding Christmas, heralds the divine promise of a new world, born with the Messiah and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 speak vividly of this transformation: “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.”
Let this scripture serve as our guide for decision-making, challenging us to transform obstacles into opportunities, prioritising meaningful goals, and let go of outdated patterns that no longer serve us. Can we visualise what this ideal world might look like and importantly commit to the decisions that bring it closer to reality?
Ploughshare versus sword
Every major change begins with a decision. From creation, God endowed humanity with the power to choose. Deuteronomy 30:19 reminds us: “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Now you know that the power to make decisions to shape not just life, but also the world around us is within. It seems easy, yet not, for this authority is sometimes appropriated by the situations that happen to us or around us.
However, make a decision in 2025 to boldly choose blessings and life. This means when faced with fears and challenges, confront the lions rather than the monkeys. After all, the monkey seems less dangerous! As David boldly faced Goliath, seeing not a threat too big to defeat but an opportunity too great to miss, so must we face the lions in our lives. It is easy to laugh at the thought of confronting fears with bravery, but let us face it—who would not want to avoid an angry lion? Yet, dodging the challenge does not eliminate it; it only postpones the inevitable. Growth begins when we stand our ground, when we make the bold decisions that have eluded us before.
Taming personal lions
Growing up, I admired public speaking and writing, but my greatest challenge was stammering. I avoided speaking like a plague, ashamed of my weakness. Yet, this struggle became my turning point. Determined to subdue my lion, I read extensively, cultivated knowledge, and eventually I overcame stammering problem. Today, I am a teacher, an author, and leadership coach. The moment I decided my destiny, I unlocked potential that benefits not just me but the world around me.
I know you could have your own weakness, refuse to believe limitations, refuse to live by the fears before you —whether financial insecurity, career stagnation, or personal doubts. Face them and make decisions however painful.
Living our faith
Martin Luther King Jr once said: “The time is always right to do what is right.” In 2025, make a choice to live right, with yourself, with others and with God. Our Lord Jesus Christ reminds us in Matthew 5:37: “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.'” This clarity empowers us to prioritise what truly matters—faith, integrity, and service. In a world where quick fixes are becoming the norm, choose to live a life that reflects the Christ. Save your soul, refuse the standards of the world, set your goals to live above the norm and live your life as the salt and light you are.
On a daily, you will have to stand at the crossroads of decision-making between the obligation to stand for truth, honesty, and morality on one hand, and the need to maintain relationships. Many times you will stand on the edge of two contrasting positions: choose life and choose a life after Christ and rank what counts- needs, values, and priorities.
Family decisions
The family is the cornerstone of any society. As Joshua declared in Joshua 24:15: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” In 2025, families can reflect this commitment by fostering peace, instilling godly values, and making decisions that build generational legacies.
Extended family dynamics, common amongst us require balance. How, by saying “no” to dependence that stifles growth and say “yes” to initiatives that empower our families to thrive. This year, choose to address the “lions” in the family making deliberate tough choices about financial, emotional, health and social priorities to nurture relationships especially between spouses, parents and children. Prioritise what works for the family and pursue unity, and love. After all, no family barbecue can flourish if everyone is throwing sand at one another’s steak. “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).
You know, a great man or woman is really shown through how they lead their family—it is where the heart of greatness starts. Let us make right choices for family growth and foundations of love to thrive. In 1 Timothy 5:8, we are told: “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for their own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.”
Church should rebuild
As we step into 2025, the Church should lead by example. A church is not just places of worship and preaching, but a place of rebuilding, restoration, and raising disciples of Christ. Isaiah 58:12 calls the Church to “rebuild the ancient ruins” and “raise up the age-old foundations.” Our Church leaders, 2025 is calling you to make decisions that reflect Christ’s teachings and address societal challenges such as poverty, injustice, disunity, disease, and moral decline.
The Church of today and tomorrow has a duty of strengthening the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:3 urges: “and make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” In a world of hate, disunity, disgruntlement, injustice, self-glorification, spiritual decay, the Church can lead in the campaign of good news of our Lord that says: “I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
The Church cannot afford to look away, or look on unconcerned, but take up challenges with boldness, becoming living examples of the Gospel in action and motion.
National decisions: a call to stewardship
The Government bears significant responsibility in shaping Uganda’s 2025 into vision 2040 and beyond. Romans 13:4 describes governing authorities as “God’s servant for your good.” To fulfil this role, critical decisions must align with the nation’s development goals. As citizens we need to demand that our leaders will prioritise the needs of its people especially,
- Health Sector: Passing the Universal Health Insurance Bill to make healthcare affordable and accessible. We cannot talk of eradicating killer diseases notably malaria, when the cost of healthcare in Uganda is too exorbitant for the ordinary citizen.
- The land factor and environmental stewardship: Enforcing recycling and banning non-biodegradable materials like kaveera. The land factor must be addressed as soon as yesterday.
- Kampala traffic is growing out of hand: shall we see the actualisation of the urban bus rapid transit system in 2025? This has been in the works for far too long. Is 2025 the turning-point?
- Economic front: Promoting local industries by curbing the influx of counterfeits, strategic infrastructural development, supporting sustainable agriculture and affordable housing through long-term mortgages.
- The financial year 2024/25 is half-way gone. How far has performance of the different ministries, departments and agencies reached against projections and goals?
- The spread and growth of microfinance tells us that Uganda is not so ‘informal’ as believed. Ordinary people at the grassroot are into billions of savings in SACCOs and Village saving groups and other self-help groups. This same pool of resources can be ploughed into a rich source of public domestic borrowing.
Regional, global vision of peace
Isaiah’s prophecy extends beyond borders. In 2025, the East African Community (EAC) will be crowning its 25th anniversary. This milestone is an opportunity to advance unity of purpose, free trade, and the free movement of people and goods. Will we see our skies opened and liberalized, to reduce the cost of air travel in the region?
Will guns in DR Congo and South Sudan finally fall silent? Can regional leaders prioritise peace and development over conflict?
Globally, the UN’s founding principle of promoting peace must be reinvigorated. Imagine the transformation if resources spent on war were redirected to development. The vision of turning swords into ploughshares is not utopian but a human mandate.
This is therefore a call for our leaders to prioritise peace over greed, peace over ego, peace over self-righteousness. Turn the swords into ploughshares—as we step into the new dawn with faith, hope, and the unwavering promise of God’s kingdom on earth.
