It's a new year! Instead of resolutions, I prefer a single word to guide me.
My church encourages its members to choose a guiding word each year. Where New Year's resolutions present a daunting starting line and perpetual possibility of failure, a single word is almost like a mantra to remind you to make good choices throughout your day. It's more freeform and unplanned, but I find this really works for me!
The attack for the weakness or misunderstanding to target for the year needs to be distilled down into a single word. I source the word organically from the words that repeat in my life and the Scripture that speaks to my goal. Then, I not only have a word to guide my decisions but also a concept to explore deeply over the year.
Last year's word was fool. There are so many times I have been nudged to do something good for another but refused because "they'll think I'm crazy," "it won't do any good," "I'm too embarrassed," "surely the Holy Spirit isn't nudging me right now," and all the other classic excuses. I always knew it was bad, but I couldn't overcome my passiveness.
Then I saw a Youtube commenter on some praise song somewhere saying he wanted to be a "crash test dummy" for the Lord.
That was the energy I needed! I would rather be reckless and do everything I can for God, making some mistakes in the process, than sit on the sidelines! I prayed for it, and sure enough, my ability to obey grew every month. :)
I ultimately chose the word fool over any alternative. It kept sticking out to me when used in Scripture, particularly when Paul says to be a fool for Christ or even boasts as a fool (2 Corinthians 11). Fool gave me the direction to delve into these chapters and better understand the role suffering played in Paul's life. (Who knew suffering would be so relevant that November, when I get a critical medical diagnosis?)
Having "fool" as a mantra was more inspiring than "Say yes to God more, and do more good works." If it had been a resolution, it wouldn't have been as constant in my mind.
2024 is the year of hope. My pastor declared it as the year of miracles and of family healing, so maybe it's extra appropriate. I chose this word because of Romans 5:3-5, which claims suffering ultimately produces hope.
1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
This verse ties in with my readings of Paul's and James's epistles addressed to those going through tribulations while I try to better understand the recent hardships in my life. Whenever the word popped up in a sermon, I knew that was the 2024 word.
I usually skim over mentions of hope in the Bible and even avoid using the word in everyday speech. I find it weak and passive. Hoping for the best is nothing more than a nice sentiment. Hoping to get something accomplishes nothing. It seems to me like anything else put in hope's place would be better. Advice or non-cliche support beats a mindless 'thoughts and prayers,' and any other action would be more productive towards reaching a goal than hope. (Of course, I stress mindless sentiment. Genuine concern, prayers, and time spent thinking about someone is precious, as God hears even the cries and prayers of sinners.)
Hope itself even lacks substance as a virtue. Everyone hopes, but can you excel at hope? Can you improve your hope? Can you hope harder?
Even if I wasn't fully conscious of my poor attitude, that line of thinking is neurotic at best and uppity and totally false at worst. The Bible addresses hope as something all Christians should have, so it has divine value, end of story. In other words, it's something new to explore in Scripture and embrace as a way to better understand my Savior and be more like Him. So let's find hope this year!
I'm not really the kind of person to hope for a brighter future or to dream of a good outcome to my current situation. I would prefer good things, sure, but I often feel like looking towards a bright future is a passive waste of time and will make any setbacks that much more disappointing. It's best to see how things are progressing and adapt, steeling my emotions as I go. After all, we aren't guaranteed a happy and easy time while on earth. In fact, we are called to suffer with Christ.
Obviously hope is not placed in earthly things anyway, no matter how precious they may seem. Our bodies can fail. Instead, we hope to be forever before our Savior, for our linen wedding dresses to have been washed spotless white in the Lamb's blood, and for us to reside in the New Heavens and New Earth forever. These outcomes are promised, so hope in them is assured, suffering or not.
I do hope in these things, but maybe I have more room to grow in my hope? There's always a gray tinge under these cloudy words, since it is easy to believe that goodness is withheld until after death. It's a shallow concern in light of an eternity without tears, death, mourning, crying, or pain, but an assumption of a life of suffering weighs down my heart.
God is a good God, though. David was so confident in the goodness of the Lord, forever declaring the Lord would restore loss multiple times over and that He would show His goodness in the land of the living. It's a constant pattern in Scripture: God may burden or even curse, but He will immediately follow up with protection, blessing, and a message of hope. I believe we have hope on Earth, too, even if it pales in comparison to our hope in Heaven.
Anyway, if you haven't thought of your word of the year, start thinking. :) It's more fun than resolutions. I hope you have a year of miracles and family healing! I hope the same for myself. Thanks for reading.
Last updated February 21, 2024.