There are big opinions out there about New Year’s resolutions. Some people love to use the new year as a fresh start by creating highly ambitious goals. Other people absolutely hate the “new year, new me” mantra, and don’t spend time making big goals they probably won’t stick to anyway. I’ve been both people in the past. Some years I’ve created really ambitious goals and had every intention of keeping them. Other years I didn’t want to waste my time, knowing I’d forget about or break my resolutions by March, if not before.
This year however, I’d like to encourage you to take a different approach that doesn’t involve making lofty goals or skipping the reflective nature of the new year altogether. Instead, I invite you to take time to realign your life with God’s heart. This idea is based around Hebrews 12:1-3 (CSB) which says, “Let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” This realignment practice is a simple way to reflect on how you’ve been living and reset your mindset so that it aligns more closely with God’s intention for your life.
A great place to start is with prayer and quiet time with God. Set aside some intentional time to talk to God, and make sure to leave space to listen to His response. Sit with God as you reflect on how your past year went; How did you handle adversity? How did you treat others? How did you take care of your community? How did you take care of yourself? If you feel like an area in your life needs to be altered, ask God to give you wisdom and strength to discern what changes need to be made and how to make them. This is the time to put aside the road blocks that have been preventing you from living out God’s best for you, just as it says to do in Hebrews 12:1.
Once you’ve spent time in prayer with God and reflected on the past year, it’s time to make sure you have a positive and Godly mindset going into the new year. This will allow you to “run with endurance the race set before you, keeping your eyes on Jesus”. A great way to ensure that your heart and mind is aligned with God is to go to the Word! Let’s look at a few passages that can help renew your spirit and ensure you are living the way God intended you to.
- Psalm 118:24: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
- This verse calls us to treat each day as a gift from God. When we see our day as a gift, we are less likely to take it for granted and go through the motions. We are more likely to be present in our daily lives and consider it a great joy to be alive!
- Isaiah 43:18-19: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
- This scripture reminds us that we can step into the new year and our past sins don’t have to come along with us. We can move forward knowing that God has called us to something more because His mercies are new every morning!
- We also see here that God is constantly at work in our lives, doing new and exciting things. It’s an encouragement to us to keep pursuing the life God has called us to, even when it’s difficult or uncertain. When we are faced with adversity, we can step into the peace of knowing that God is at work at all times.
- Philippians 4:6-7: “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.”
- I think we’d all like less worry and stress in our new year! This verse tells us that we can exchange our worries for words to God. Rather than spending time overthinking a situation or complaining about our circumstances, we can and should go directly to God. If we do this he will give us peace and protection, which is something I think we all want MORE of in our new year!
I encourage you to take some time to find more passages that will help you align your mindset with God on your own time. God is excited to share with you through His words how you can change your mindset to honor and glorify Him this year! If you find passages that you feel will help you put your best foot forward, write them down and put them on your mirror, fridge, or area you see often to keep them at the forefront of your mind. Or, challenge yourself to read these passages each morning to start your day on the right foot.
The beginning of a new year is the perfect opportunity to realign your life by reflecting and resetting your mindset. Whether this inspires you to create new year’s resolutions or simply refocus, I pray that this be a year of closer alignment with God’s purpose for your life!
Reflection Questions
These reflection questions can be done on your own, or you can invite a group of friends to do some reflection together if you need extra encouragement and support as you head into the new year.
- Reflect on your past year.
- How did you handle adversity?
- How did you treat others and take care of your community?
- How did you take care of yourself?
- What other areas of your life do you want to reflect on?
- Do you feel like you need to make changes to any areas in your life in the new year in order to be more aligned with God’s best for you?
- Which verse (Psalm 118:24, Isaiah 43:18-19, or Philippians 4:6-7) spoke to you the most regarding how you want to position your heart and mind in the new year?
- What other verses or passages did you find that can help you realign your life or alter your mindset to be more Christ-like?
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