7 Simple New Years Resolutions that Draw you Closer to God
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I am the worst at keeping New Years Resolutions. I am the one that would join a gym and stop going by February. My flesh is weak, and I give in to cravings and temptations to be lazy far too often. I always have the best intentions, but I can’t seem to have very good follow through.
I find myself feeling guilty or beating myself up for not being able to make it happen. The problem I discovered years ago though were that these resolutions were not only self seeking, but I was trying to accomplish them in my own strength. Although it would be good for me to be healthier for my family, my main heart motivation was wanting my body to look better, and I knew the right amount of will power could do that. I decided these typical kind of New Years Resolutions weren’t for me.
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What Kind of New Years Resolutions are Worth the Time?
When I gave up New Years Resolutions, it was mainly so I would not spend so much time focusing on myself, including feeling sorry for myself. Everything about it, even the beating myself up for not following through, was self focused. It was not a healthy cycle. If you are one of those people that has amazing follow through and self discipline, you are awesome! I am in awe of the determination and hard work that you can put in to better yourself and your family. It’s just not me.
This year I decided to do something different. I want to make easy, small changes that aren’t about my own dedication and hard work in my flesh but about the Holy Spirit working and changing me. These are seven small things you can do with me that will slowly but definitely bring you into a deeper relationship with God and allow the Holy Spirit to change you from the inside out.
1 – Begin and End Every Day Praising God
A few years ago I was sick of always feeling negative about everything, and I really sought the Lord on it. I had prayed about it often, but I always gave into worry and fear and let it control my life. But this time I was determined to not fall back into the same patterns of negative thinking. God revealed to me through my persistent prayers that Joy was unlocked from Praise. I should have known and already been doing this, but my thoughts and flesh were clouded and programmed with lies that God really wasn’t who He said He was – at least not for me.
Once I started consciously taking time every day to praise God, things slowly started changing. My brain and flesh started to become rewired to think in terms of God’s goodness instead of what I was missing or what could happen. I could focus on enjoying the moment instead of dreading the past. It wasn’t easy sometimes and took time, but eventually I began to see the world through a new lens. You can read more about how this one act changed my perspective on everything (and can change yours too!) here.
My challenge to you is to take the time to praise God first thing when you wake and last thing before you go to sleep. It may be just one thing in the morning and one thing at night because that’s all you can muster right now. Or it may be a laundry list. Either way it is an easy step you can take every day to start aligning yourself to the Truth and unlock true Joy!
2 – Keep a Bible Handy and Open
I wrote a little about this in my 7 Tips to Stay Consistent in God’s Word for Busy Moms post. But it can really be beneficial for every one of us!
There are constant distractions every where. Technology is king and demands our attention most of our waking hours. One “trick” I found that helped me stay more consistent in God’s Word was having Bibles open and everywhere!
Wherever you spend a good amount of time in your house, have a Bible there. Maybe you’re in the living room a lot or your office or kitchen – all of those places are easy to stash an extra Bible. When it’s there and open, it’s easy to make the choice to pick up reading where you left off. It’s still a choice you have to make rather than doing something else, but the more you do it the more natural it becomes.
3 – Choose Grace over Guilt
This is a HUGE thing for me. I am the queen of being burdened with the weight of my own sins and mistakes. Even when I consciously know that I am forgiven by God, it’s like I can’t forgive myself. If I mess up either on purpose or on accident, my mind will dwell there for weeks.
I grew up believing a lie that I had to be perfect for God to love me. I strived out of my own strength and always felt guilty, helpless, and unsure how God felt about me. I grew up in a Christian home and going to church, but somehow my mind had gotten twisted from the truth. In college, I finally discovered God’s true grace and started learning about His love for me no matter what.
When I finally started truly believing God is who He says is, I could learn about how He sees me and how I should see myself. God doesn’t want us to live in a defeated, guilty ball all the time. He wants us to live in our free identities in Christ receiving His forgiveness, grace, and mercy for the past, present, and future. He desires us to confidently know who we are in Christ so we can boldly share and represent Him with our lives.
4 – Replace Lies you Believe with Truths
We all have lies we believe as truths. Whether we recognize them or not they are there. Some may have been there since we were very young and some may be more recent. Some may be very easy to identify while others may be so deeply rooted we need others to help us bring them to light.
I encourage you to take time to identify at least one lie you are believing a month. That’s it, just one a month. Once you prayerfully identify it, start digging through Scripture to figure out the truth about that lie. Then create notecards or a space in your journal to write down the truth with Scripture. Read that truth every morning before getting out of bed and every night before turning off the light and going to sleep for the entire month.
Then when the next month comes, you can either just do a new one or add on if you are still struggling with the previous month’s lie. This will retrain your thinking to no longer believe the lie, and you will start experiencing freedom from it. Depending on how deeply rooted the lie is will determine how long it will take for freedom to come.
An example could go like this: The lie I believe is “My words don’t matter.” The truth and Scripture(s) I would write down would be: “I have the mind of Christ, and He gives me the right words at the right time to accomplish His purposes. 1 Corinthians 2:16; John 14:26; Luke 12:12; Luke 21:14-15; Ephesians 2:10.”
5 – Connect with an Encouraging Community
For years we didn’t attend our church in person. Even before the pandemic there were a million excuses for why we didn’t go. We had for awhile felt like we didn’t fit in and tried different small groups but never found a good fit. It wasn’t until we moved cities for my husband’s job that we found a church where we truly felt free to be ourselves.
We quickly fell in love with the people and got involved with small groups. It was the best decision we could have made after years of feeling unwanted and like outcasts in the church.
Having a community of people that can pray for and encourage you is so important. Sometimes it just takes finding the right church/group to find the right fit so don’t give up! Keep looking and praying. God is faithful and will give you what you need at the right time.
6 – Get an Accountability Partner
Do you have a friend who is a believer and you feel like you can tell anything to without fear of judgement or condemnation? This is who your accountability partner should be. Someone who can lovingly draw you back to the Cross without making you feel guilty or ashamed if you don’t follow through or mess up.
The goal of an accountability partner in my mind is someone who deepens your relationship with Christ just through regular conversation. It doesn’t need to be a forced thing. I have a friend who I know if I talk to I will always get off the phone feeling encouraged and challenged in the best way.
You can have accountability about something specific or just have a friend you call to encourage each other in the Lord. These friendships are so valuable and worth the time. If you don’t already have someone like this in your life, start praying for God to provide you with one. You would be amazed how He will bless you even in the most unexpected ways.
7 – If You’re Married, Pray with your Spouse Every Day
I can’t emphasize this one enough. This is game changing for your marriage. When you got married, you entered into a union with not only your husband but also God. So why would we not include God in our relationships with our spouses?
Although my husband and I have only been married 5 years, we have been through a lot. The thing that brought us more intimacy and love than anything else is when we made the decision to start praying together every night. It took a couple of weeks to get into the habit, but now I can’t go to sleep without it.
This will deepen your relationship with your spouse and with God. You can spend as much or as little time praying together, but we like to each take a turn each night and pray for what’s on our hearts. It could be for our kids, friends and family, needs, wants, and each other. It doesn’t have to be perfect or a big long production. It can just be a short and sweet way to encourage each other.
Keep in mind that Satan is out to destroy God-fearing marriages and families. Praying together creates a united front against these attacks. It is possibly the most valuable thing you can do for your family.
Wrap It Up
New Years Resolutions can be a positive or negative thing. Keeping the Holy Spirit involved will give you a better chance of seeing success. I encourage you to choose one or do all 7 of these simple to implement resolutions to make 2022 a year where you grow closer to the Lord.
Praise the Lord every morning and night, keep a Bible open and handy, choose Grace over guilt, replace lies with truths, connect with an encouraging community, get an accountability partner, and pray with your spouse. That’s it! Simple things that don’t take more than a few minutes a day that will bring you closer to God if you stick with them.
Always remember though, that even if you start all of them and don’t follow through with a single one – you are still loved, cherished, and seen as whole, forgiven, and free in Christ. Your worth is not found in any of these things. It’s only found in Christ’s precious gift of life He has so freely given, and we get to freely receive.
If you are into organizing things like this and are still in need of a planner/calendar for 2022, check out these adorable ones available through DaySpring! You can find simple ones or more in depth ones. There is something for everyone.
So what about you? Do you usually follow through with your New Years Resolutions?
