It’s officially 2024—have you prayed about your New Year’s resolutions yet? Incorporating Christ in setting goals and intentions for the new year is a great way to grow your faith and exercise spiritual discipline in your life. We have some great ways you can set Christ-centered resolutions for 2024.
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Maybe your faith took a backseat in 2023 due to … well, life! It can happen to the best of us. If this sounds like you, maybe it’s time to make 2024 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.
Have you recently moved or just haven’t found a faith community yet? The new year is a great time to start working on finding one that fits you. Just as Jesus journeyed with His apostles, we also need Christian brothers and sisters to lean on and journey with.
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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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!
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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God also gave us our physical bodies and He wants us to take good care of them! That doesn’t mean your New Year’s resolution has to be to lose weight. Maybe it’s cutting back on junk food, exercising more regularly, or even making that doctor’s appointment you’ve been putting off for a while.
Healthy habits don’t have to only be diet and exercise related. It could also include letting go of friendships that don’t lead you closer to the Lord, or breaking habits that aren’t strengthening your relationship with Jesus. Ask God what healthy habits He wants you to implement this year and follow His leading!
Oof … this might be a hard one for some of us, but loving our neighbors will definitely strengthen our relationship with God! The Bible tells us to “love one another” (1 John 4:11 NIV) but loving every brother and sister in Christ isn’t always easy. While this might be something you’ve struggled with in the past, the new year is a great time to pray for the spiritual discipline to do better.
Loving your neighbor can look like extending a welcome to a new family in the neighborhood, providing a hot coffee or food to people experiencing homelessness, finding a ministry to start serving with, making a meal for a grieving family friend, holding the door open for a stranger … the list goes on. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to a new way to love your neighbors daily and walk with God to find how and where He’s calling you to love your brothers and sisters.
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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.
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 2024, 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.
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