2025 is just around the corner—have you prayed about your New Year’s resolutions yet? As Christians, setting faith-based New Year’s resolutions is an excellent way to grow closer to God, deepen your spiritual journey, and align your life with biblical principles.
Incorporating Christ in setting goals and intentions for the new year is a great way to grow your faith, exercise spiritual discipline, and strengthen your relationship with God. Whether you're focusing on daily prayer, reading the Bible, or finding ways to serve others, we have some inspiring ideas to help you set Christ-centered resolutions for 2025 that can transform your spiritual life.
Invest More Time in Growing Your Faith
Maybe your faith took a backseat in 2024 due to … well, life! It can happen to the best of us. If this sounds like you, maybe it’s time to make 2025 the year of spiritual discipline.
This doesn’t mean you have to overhaul your entire routine—you can make small, achievable goals for yourself to invest more time in growing your faith. Start by reading the Bible daily for 5-10 minutes a day and carve out another 5-10 minutes of prayer time with God. Or, maybe investing in your relationship with God looks like committing to going to church every Sunday, or volunteering more regularly at your church.
In "The Abigail Broukes Mystery," Abby hadn't been most diligent in investing time in her faith in the last several years. Her friends and family encouraged her to start small, just as we suggest for Christian goal-setting in the new year. It's amazing what habits can build over small increments of time.
Connect With a Local Faith Community
Have you recently moved or just haven’t found a faith community yet? The new year is the perfect opportunity to explore local faith communities and build meaningful connections. Just as Jesus journeyed with His apostles, we also need Christian brothers and sisters to lean on and journey with.
Start by researching Christian churches near you, looking for one that aligns with your faith and values. Consider attending services at several locations to find the best fit for you. Connecting with a church not only strengthens your spiritual growth but also provides opportunities for fellowship, service, and participation in Bible studies. Many churches also offer small groups or ministries tailored to specific interests or stages of life, such as young adult groups, women’s ministries, or family-focused activities. Building relationships with fellow believers is essential for living out your faith and growing in Christ.
If you have a church home, find a way to serve regularly. Every church we know of could use more people willing to serve! You can also see what Bible studies are available in your church. If you’re concerned about going alone, ask a friend or family member to come with you. But do whatever it takes to find a church and get plugged in.
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Overcome Distractions That Keep You From Your Faith
Another way to invest in your faith journey is to overcome pesky distractions that keep you from growing in your relationship with Jesus. What is keeping you from seeking God more fully? Maybe it’s social media, or watching too much television that isn’t faith-oriented. (btw: We know of a place where you can watch high-quality faith and family entertainment!) Maybe it’s gossiping about coworkers, or any of a dozen other seemingly small things. The first step is identifying whatever is holding you back, then brainstorm ways to stop, including praying for God’s help.
If you need to cut down on social media, make a daily limit for yourself by putting a timer on your phone or log on only once a day. If you’re trying to cut down on gossiping, look for ways to turn the conversation towards the positive, or spend less time with those who tend to gossip. All of this might be hard at first, but with spiritual discipline, you can develop good habits!
Spend More Time With Family
Another way to incorporate Christ in your New Year’s resolutions is by spending more time with your family. Throughout the Bible, we find Scripture that focuses on the importance of family. Spending more quality time with the people God blessed you with as family is something we can all work on! When we do so, we’re able to see the gifts God has given us in our family members, and appreciate the unique person God made each of them to be.
If you don’t live close to immediate family or family friends, try calling or writing handwritten letters to one or more family members each month. If your children live at home, make family dinners mandatory at least once a week. If your adult children live in the same area, meet up for church service every week—or Sunday dinner if you go to different churches. Not only will you be spending more time with your family, they can also become your accountability partners to make sure you’re going to church!
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Implement Healthy Habits
God created our physical bodies as temples, and He calls us to honor Him by taking good care of them. This doesn’t mean your New Year’s resolution has to solely focus on losing weight; instead, it could include committing to healthier choices, like cutting back on junk food, drinking more water, or incorporating regular exercise into your routine. Even small steps, such as taking daily walks or scheduling that long-overdue doctor’s appointment, can have a significant impact on your overall well-being.
Healthy habits aren’t just about diet and exercise—they extend to your mental, emotional, and spiritual health as well. Perhaps this is the year to set boundaries or let go of relationships that hinder your walk with Christ. Or it might be time to break unhealthy habits, such as negative self-talk or distractions that pull you away from spending time in prayer or reading the Bible.
Seek God in prayer and ask Him what changes He desires for your life. Whether it’s creating a consistent devotional routine or finding ways to serve others, trust His guidance as you cultivate habits that glorify Him in 2025.
Love Your Neighbors
Loving our neighbors is one of the greatest ways we can strengthen our relationship with God, but let’s be honest—sometimes it’s easier said than done! The Bible reminds us in 1 John 4:11 (NIV): “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” However, loving every brother and sister in Christ can feel challenging at times. If this has been a struggle for you, the new year offers the perfect opportunity to pray for spiritual growth and ask God to help you cultivate a heart of love and compassion.
Practicing love for your neighbor can take many forms. You might extend a warm welcome to a new family in your community, offer a cup of coffee or a meal to someone experiencing homelessness, or get involved with a local ministry or church outreach program. Other acts of kindness could include preparing a meal for a friend who is grieving, volunteering at a shelter, or simply holding the door open and sharing a smile with a stranger.
The possibilities are endless! Start by asking the Holy Spirit to guide you toward opportunities to serve and love others. Each small step you take in loving your neighbors reflects God’s love and draws you closer to Him in 2025.
Read Also: 5 Powerful Prayers for Heart Change and Life Transformation
Trust In God’s Plan
This one might be even harder than the last one! It’s easy for all of us to fall into the cycle of worrying, stressing, and being anxious over many things in life—money, work, home ownership, raising children (or grandchildren), physical and mental health … on and on. But the Bible tells us over and over again not to be anxious or worry about tomorrow.
So how can we actively start working on trusting in God’s plan more? Maybe it’s reading a Bible verse or two about not being afraid every day. Or saying a short prayer like, “Jesus, I trust in You,” at times you start to feel stressed. Find an accountability partner who knows you well enough to keep your focus on trusting God.
Maintaining Motivation for Spiritual Growth
Now that we have some Christ-centered goals set, it’s time to make sure we stay motivated and committed to maintaining them for the next twelve months!
As we’ve mentioned, having an accountability partner to talk to about and help you maintain your goals can be a key to strengthening your relationship with God. This could be a family friend, spouse, a brother or sister, or another close family member or friend.
Writing down your goals or sharing them with someone can help you commit to maintaining them. If you write them down, you can review them every month and take time to reflect on how you can improve for the next month. This will help strengthen your spiritual discipline in keeping your resolutions!
Talking to God in prayer about your goals for the year is a great way to maintain the motivation for keeping your resolutions. He can give you the strength and courage you need to carry out your goals! Whatever your resolutions may be for 2025, we pray that you are blessed abundantly this year.
If you're looking for movies or shows to watch to inspire your resolutions and heart transformation, we recommend "Divine Influencer," "Moonrise," "God's Country Song," or the series "Saved by Grace" all exclusively right here on Great American Pure Flix.
And if you want more inspiration for 2025? Sign up for the Great American Pure Flix weekly email newsletter.
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