Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Preparing For The New Year Spiritually

“Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.” — Proverbs 24:27

Christmas is over. It is certainly a wonderful time of year to worship God incarnate and spend time with family and friends. But now that Christmas is in the rearview mirror, it is time to look forward to the new year.

A new year is a great time to develop new habits. Many people focus their New Year’s resolutions around their health and lifestyle, pledging to lose weight or spend more time with family. However, many people forget to center God in their New Year’s plans.  While many people are quick to take on areas such as health or finances, it is a little more challenging figuring out how to set spiritual goals, whether it’s for the new year or beyond. 1 Timothy tells us, “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” Now is always a great time to recenter yourself spiritually as you organize your life and look ahead.

God has provided everything we need, to grow strong spiritually. He provided us insight on how we can properly prepare ourselves to follow His direction in the new year. Scripture tells us in Proverbs 24:27 to “Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.” Before we set forth to perform the work God has for us in the new year, we must pray and seek God’s direction in 2023.“Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:6)

2023 presents us with a new race with a new finish line. It’s a new day, a new year, and a new you. So what changes would you like to make this year? What will you resolve to do differently this year? Psalm 17:3 provides an excellent example of someone that feels he “has” to make a commitment.  He is “determined…”   “You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night. You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong. I am determined not to sin in what I say.”

The new year seems the perfect time to make commitments and take action. If you are dissatisfied with how you have lived this past year, there will be new opportunities before you. It can truly be a new year for you, with a better and stronger relationship with God.  May this be a new beginning for a new you where you see the Lord move in your life.

As we begin 2023, my prayer is that we are committed to trusting God to work in our lives in a new, and powerful way. So rather than seeing the start of another year as a daunting task to be met or an unknown to be feared, my prayer is that we can trust in God’s sovereignty over every aspect of our lives. There will be new blessings, new trials, new failures, and new victories, but He is all we need.

Discussion questions:

  1. What is your mindset in entering the new year?
  2. What would you like to change in your life in 2023?

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