I have never liked New Year’s resolutions. Many things about them rub me wrong, but the thing that turns me off the most is that it seems no one ever reaches the goals they set for themselves. It seems like we all start the year off excited and energized, ready to improve! Then life happens. We switch from thrive mode to survive mode and we don’t visit the gym again, our devotion time grows slack, and we still haven’t kicked that nasty habit.
No, my typical New Year’s resolution is to have no New Year’s resolution.
But I think this year might be different.
As some of you may know, last month I started blogging for Compassion. I do this to promote awareness for children in need and to encourage others to contribute to a great charity and a cause I believe in (click the link on the right of the page to learn more). Every month, we compassion bloggers are tasked with a different topic.
This month is New Years Resolutions… yay.
But Compassion is suggesting something I’ve never come across before.
The task I’ve been given is to choose one single word for 2014. Not a phrase, verse, or sentence. A word.
The basic idea is to think about all that I want to accomplish and see happen in my life over the next year and boil it down to a single word.
The word can be anything, but it must be chosen carefully. This word is meant to guide my spiritual and personal growth through the next year.
It’s sort of a guiding star, if you will. For example, I could choose the word love and focus my next year on loving God, others, and myself more. I could choose the word generous and determine to, with God’s help, give more. I could choose the word trust and spend the next year surrendering more to the Lord.
I’m intrigued by the concept because repetition is one way God really speaks to me. I’ll hear something in a sermon or read it in a book and it will hit me right between the eyes. Then, a few days later, I’ll receive an email or read a blog with a similar message. God will usually bring a point up three or four times before it starts to penetrate with me, so this sounds right up my alley.
At this moment, I do not yet have my word. I plan to pray about it, search the Scriptures, and ask God what word He desires to use in my life.
I think this is a very intriguing idea and I’m excited to see what God does with it.
If you’d like more info, you can read about some other people’s experiences here.
If you decide you join me, I’d love to know what word you choose, why, and how God is using it in your life =)
Isaiah 43:1 