New Year’s Resolutions

As each new year approaches, I, like many others, find myself reflecting on the events of the past year. I examine what I did well, what I did not do so well, and what I could improve upon. And like clockwork every year, the three things at the top of my “could improve upon” list are that I could have made healthier eating choices, that I could have exercised more and that I needed to work on my time management aka work/life/school balance. So, imagine my dismay as New Year’s Day came and I was geared up to begin a new workout regimen to realize that I could not because I was sick. There was no way my body was going to allow me to get up off the couch, let alone walk a slow pace on the treadmill. I was down for the count.

As I laid on the couch talking with Jesus about my frustrating situation and the feeling of defeat on the first day of the New Year, I began thinking of what habits I had not been focusing on, such as Holy habits. The first thought that came to my mind was my prayer life. I knew I was already praying to God first thing in the morning upon waking and that I ended each evening with a prayer before going to bed. I always made sure that I blessed my food before eating and that often, before starting a project or task, I would invite God in and pray.

Now notice, I used the word “often”. I knew that this was something I could improve upon by making sure that my “often” turned into “always”. And then it hit me, while I may often pray before starting a project or task, how many times did I actually give praise to God and rejoice upon the completion of the project or task. I mean I know with each evening prayer, I thanked Him and rejoiced that I made it through the day and accomplished what I needed to, but why was I not doing it in the moment? How many little things were being missed because I was not pausing long enough in the moment to thank Him. I knew immediately that this was a new habit that I needed to begin doing.

A second habit that came to mind was acts of service. While I knew that my days were already jammed pack with little to no room for something else, I could just feel that I was being drawn to do something more. I sat a talked with Jesus for a while about this, explaining to Him, as if He did not already know, that my plate was full and I just could not see how I could add one more thing. And then, just like that, He found a simple and easy way for me to increase my acts of service… acts of kindness. He put on my heat that a great Holy habit to incorporate into my daily life is to simply reach out to others in kindness and let them know that they are loved, that they are being thought of, and that I was always here, willing to pray with them. A text honestly does not take up more than a minute of my time and I know how much my heart is touched when I receive such a text.

The last habit that was put on my heart was memorizing scripture. I know that I have a wonderful gift of memorizing numbers. I remember my credit card numbers or checking account numbers time after time with never having to look at them again, but boy, do I struggle with memorizing single verses. However as with any new habit, two things must happen – intentionality and consistency, and if I was being honest with myself, I was not being intentional or consistent with memorizing scripture verses. I was consuming books after books, learning about the different stories and characters in the Bible, but I was not truly focusing on learning one verse at a time.

The more I thought about memorizing scripture, I understood the importance of this. When we memorize scripture, we draw closer to God. His words help us understand His character and His will for our lives. It deepens our relationship with Him and ensures that we keep Him at the center of our life. Memorizing verses also helps equip us for spiritual battles, provides us a way to comfort others in trials, and fills us with hope. Our outlook on life changes and we approach things in all circumstance with a more positive attitude.

So despite the fact that I was still a bit bummed that I had already failed my first day of my new workout regimen, and even though the enemy was trying his best to convince me that this year was going to be like every other year, full of failed New Year’s resolutions, I felt a sense of spiritual renewal. I was excited for the new year knowing that creating new Holy habits in my life were going to last me far past the year 2025.

What New Year’s Resolutions have you made for 2025? What holy habits have you incorporated in your life? Do you think the holy habits I mentioned will help you grow closer to God? Please share in the comments.