I'll admit it, I love the start of a new year.
I'm the friend who's always badgering you to do Whole30 for January, commit to doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University on Wednesdays, and of course read through the entire Bible in the year.
There's just something about a fresh start and the opportunity to learn and grow that gets me every time.
But the funny thing is there's nothing extra special about January 1st compared to the day before.
It's the mindset between those two days that changes everything though, and the opportunity it affords us to slow down enough to reflect on things that we want to do in the new year.
I was listening to this episode of Betterman Podcast with Barry Davis last week and stumbled across six characteristics to take into 2022 that they suggested, and they were too good not to share.
So without further ado, here are six characteristics to take into 2022:
1. Have a clear vision of a preferred future- Proverbs 29:18 warns us, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." Without a vision, we run around wildly in chaos.
- Courageously follow God’s word, love and protect the people God’s entrusted to you, excel at God’s work, and make the world a better place.
2. Welcome honesty of other believers in your life
- Proverbs 14:12 tell us, "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death."
- Have community who will be honest with pointing things out that need to be corrected in you.
3. Think about and talk about Jesus a lot
- Jesus reminds us in John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
- Jesus is who we need to emulate. Period.
4. Do the right things to experience God
- Jesus models this for us in Luke 6:12, "One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God."
- We have to experience God in order to be in a place to do His will.
5. Encourage others
- Hebrews 3:13 instructs us to "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called 'today,' so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."
- We’re not given the responsibility to encourage ourselves, but we are given the responsibility to encourage others.
- Knowing that, others have that responsibility to encourage you, so if you’re not in a community where other believers are in a position to encourage you, then you’re missing out.
6. Have the discipline that is necessary to do the these things
- Hebrews 12:11 lovingly reminds us, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."
- Without discipline, we won’t be able to do what God has us to do.
There you have it, a sure way to make 2022 your best year yet. Full stop. Make these six characteristics your bullseye for this new year and you won't regret it.
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