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2023 is here. Just like that, another year has come and gone.
I’ve noticed a curious thing as I get older: I still enjoy New Year’s Resolutions, but they have certainly evolved over time. I used to focus on setting healthier habits, reading more books (always, more books!), or exercising for a certain amount of time every week.
Now, my New Year’s “Resolutions” have morphed into project goals. I tend to focus on creating lists with things like, “Paint my daughter’s room,” or “Finish my current degree program.” My resolutions are a lot broader now, and that is mostly due to the busyness of life.
Oddly, life only seems to get busier as I’ve gotten older – which is not what I thought would happen at all! I’m not sure it has anything to do with being a parent, either. I think my life is simply a kaleidoscope of deadlines and to-do lists, and I feel as if I’m endlessly rushing forward at a dizzying pace…until finally, another year has flashed by again, and I can hardly remember anything about it.
If you’re like me, perhaps you’re feeling the pressure of the intensity of life. Between work, relationships, and just EVERYTHING, it can be so difficult and overwhelming to commit to a New Year’s Resolution or goal when life is bubbling over with chaos.
Today, I’d like to share some gentle and healing goals that you can introduce into your own life that won’t stress you out or drag you down. Forget the 30-day diet plans for a moment and let’s focus instead on using the Bible to encourage us through 2023.
It’s really all we need.
Cast your cares
Jesus told His followers not to be anxious about anything – and who among us is not anxious? We live in truly troubling times. As our freedoms are under siege and Eastern Europe is embroiled in senseless war, it’s easy to get discouraged and internalize the negativity. Because I work in the news, I understand all too well how easy it is to get sucked into the negativity of the news cycle.
As Christians, we must engage with the world around us and not hide from it. However, the Bible offers us a life preserver in a sea of catastrophe:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:25-34
No matter how bad things get, we can rest assured that the Lord cares about us, watches over us, and will provide for us when needed. This verse has brought me much comfort over the years – and the Lord has graciously provided for myself and my family even in circumstances where I honestly thought, “There’s no way out!”
I challenge you as well as myself to take conscious steps toward allowing the Lord to take the reigns of control in your life. Give your anxiety to Him. He will keep you in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).
Glorifying God with our bodies
With a new year often comes pledges to lose weight, gain muscle, or run marathons. There is nothing wrong with any of these things, and for most of my life, I have enjoyed kicking off a burgeoning calendar year with a clean-eating regime and a commitment to exercise.
If the thought of healthy eating and exercising makes you nauseated, I understand. Sometimes, the last thing I want to do is improve myself in any way. When life is stressful, it’s a lot easier for me to settle into what’s comfortable and ignore what’s needed. I’d be lying if I said I don’t often struggle with finding the motivation to set goals at times.
I think it’s helpful to see what Scripture says about our bodies when it comes to our perspective on fitness and exercise:
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
For me, the concept of my body belonging to God has always been so impactful. If the Holy Spirit is dwelling within me and you alike, then it makes sense that our physical bodies are indeed a temple. This makes me a little more motivated to make sure that the Holy Spirit’s dwelling place is in good, clean condition!
I have adjusted my intensity over time when it comes to setting health goals, but for 2023, my goal is to simply ask myself as the year goes on, “Am I glorifying God with my body when I am doing this?”
Food, drink, and fun are absolutely part of the good and joyful things that we get to enjoy on this Earth in our best moments (James 1:7). I just like to check and make sure that I’m not idolizing any one thing too much.
For me, I’ve long been obsessed with coffee. It’s ridiculous how dependent I have been on that silly, acidic cup of warmth. However, due to health reasons, I’ve been forced to give it up – and you know what? I’ll survive without it.
I like to encourage people to give up just one vice and see how much better they feel without it. One thing is a lot easier to give up than an entire list of things. If you want to succeed, you have to set yourself up for success, after all. One step at a time!
Now, I had to give up coffee out of necessity, but I also chose to give up watching several things that I previously would have loved to watch last year (mostly scary movies and several television shows). That was hard for me to do! But my mind and my heart are so much better off.
Stop comparing
I firmly believe that social media is at the root of most of our problems in this particular century. Social media is disruptive, deceptive, and fleeting. In a desperate quest for “likes” and comments, we sometimes twist ourselves into a pretzel to try and make it look like our lives are wonderful, picture-perfect snapshots of paradise.
Perhaps, for some people, that’s true. But for most of us, life is hard, right? Life is a battlefield, and often, life is filled with pain and bitter disappointment. The reality is that life hurts – a lot. There are some joyful moments, and often, those highlights are the only things you see on social media.
As a writer and a member of the press, I have to use social media for work (that’s just how we do news these days!), but there is no reason I have to use it to compare myself and my life against the lives of others.
I began noticing sometime last year that every time I would open up my social media feed, my good mood would quickly devolve into anger or emotional outbursts. It’s easy to see the posed perfection on a screen and automatically think that your own life sucks in comparison (Spoiler alert: it doesn’t!). That being said, I do think social media is, broadly speaking, poisonous.
I think it’s great for shopping, for small businesses, and for communication…but for the average user, it’s very dangerous. It has the capacity to really bring you down and pull you from the reality of your life and into the virtual reality of someone else’s life.
For that reason,
one of my gentle resolutions of 2023 is to continue a goal I started in 2022: kick personal social media to the curb.
I’d rather have coffee with someone than “like” their photo, anyway!
Being okay with YOU
The self-love movement is toxic. It’s not based in Biblical truth, and it encourages self-worship over Creator-worship. However, it’s important to acknowledge that we are all created in the image of God, and that if you are a born-again Christian, you are also a child of God. You are loved by Him, and He cares about you (Psalm 55:2, 1 Peter 5:7, etc.).
My personal testimony includes a long and storied struggle with intense feelings of self-loathing, and that is also unbiblical. God did not create us to hate ourselves anymore than He created us to self-love ourselves into vapid oblivion.
Carry your worth into 2023 by knowing where it lies: with God! Our value, our worth, our purpose – everything about us is grounded in Jesus Christ. What a wonderful, encouraging truth. If we dig into the Bible in 2023 and fill our minds with the truth of God’s Word, it will slowly become easier and easier to let go of our old, bad habits and step into the spirit-filled person that God wants us to be.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17