The “New Year, New You!” dreams always ended in disappointment for me. It was more like “New Year, same old me.” Now that we’re three months into the “new year,” have you slayed your 2025 resolutions, or have they slayed you?
If you have a dismal record of abandoned resolutions, I pray that at least one idea in this article inspires and equips you to move forward in what God has for you this year. I can’t promise a new you, but this practice—which can be started or repeated at any time of year, because every day can be the start of a new year—has proven to be a sustainable way to mindfully and steadily seek the Lord in what He puts on my heart to do.
When I quit resolutions, I adopted the idea of a “word for the year.” This evolved into a year-end exercise and one-day retreat I call R.I.P. It’s a way to say “rest in peace” to the previous year and prepare for the new one through Reflection, Intention, and Prayer.
There are three categories or steps:
- Look back.
- Look within and up.
- Look forward.
Look Back
It seems counterintuitive, but we look back to move forward. This is actually a biblical, Hebrew practice commanded by God, who (according to AI) said “remember,” “do not forget,” and “forget not” some four hundred times. Additionally, He created days and ways, like the Sabbath, to remember Him and His works. Author Kristi McLelland says we look back to remember God’s faithfulness so we can “courage forward.” Otherwise, we risk going backward.
Reflect on your previous year, and identify two specifics in each of these four categories:
- Two Wins: An accomplishment, big step, significant decision, personal or spiritual victory, or a way you’ve seen the unmistakable hand of God in your life and circumstances.
- Two Grins: A challenge or trial—something unwanted, unexpected, or even something that looked like failure but produced a priceless lesson (called grins because, on the other side of the hard or painful experience, you smile at the goodness of God).
- Two Sins: A sin that separated you from seeing and experiencing God. One sin I noted in 2024 is self-reliance to achieve my own form of righteousness, as if what God started in the Spirit will be completed in my flesh (see Galatians 3:3).
- Two Pins: A great resource you want to “pin” like on Pinterest—something you read, studied, or heard that left a lasting impression you don’t want to forget.
Your answers form a written record of God’s faithfulness you can easily reference when you’re inclined to forget (see Deuteronomy 4:23 and 8:11–10).
Look Within
Next, answer these three questions:
- What is the one main thing you believe God has put on your heart for right now?
- What is one thing that stands in your way?
- What is the way forward in obedience?
The goal at the conclusion of this reflection is what I call a FOR-WORD, a biblical spin on a word for the year that becomes a “compass” to concisely and continually point you in the direction of God’s calling and assignment for you. It’s the combination of two things:
- A single word you believe embodies what God has put on your heart for 2025.
- A word from His Word that inspires or instructs you forward in the thing He puts on your heart to do.
My one thing is worship, but my affection for image (idolatry) stands in my way. My one way forward is to fall more in love with Jesus, and my FOR-WORD is gaze because to love Jesus, I must behold Him; to behold Him, I must gaze at Him and not the things of this world. My word from the Word is Psalm 27:4 (ESV): “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple.”
Your FOR-WORD may not come to you right away, and that’s okay. It may change—mine has. But as you shift your focus to the things of the Lord, He will guide you to specific intentions or practices for what He has revealed.
Look Forward
Finally, look ahead and identify the genesis steps or intentions that will yield forward movement. Borrowing Paul’s words from Ephesians 5:15–16 (ESV), this is where we “look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
Based on your FOR-WORD, name two things you’ll start, two things you’ll stop, two things you’ll face, and two things you’ll embrace (borrowed from an unknown author).
In order to follow my FOR-WORD gaze, I have to know who Jesus is, what He looks like, and how to see Him. I have to prioritize time to learn about Him, which means I have to schedule time to read and study the Bible. Thus, I have to get up early, but in a rested state—not sleepy—so I have to plan my bedtime and wake time for at least seven hours of sleep. This requires an early dinner time that allows time for James and me to hang out before bed. So, one intention is to “start dinner prep no later than 6 p.m. each day.” If I don’t, subsequent steps spiral from there. A few other personal examples include:
- I will stop using a Bible app for my morning reading so I don’t get distracted with other apps.
- I will face my tendency to approach time with God as a formulated task.
- I will embrace Scripture memory.
Today is the day the Lord has made (see Psalm 118:24). Because of His new mercies every morning, you can start fresh today. Every day can be the first day of a new year, so Happy New Year! May the Lord prosper you forward.
