How's your year starting?

Not what will you do

Well, we’re a week in to the new year. If you had big plans for the year, especially for spiritual growth, how’s it going? Sometimes managing a week isn’t too bad, but even that long can be enough to throw us off track.

Maybe you’ve already stumbled in your battle with a sin you’re committed to quitting.
Maybe you already need to catch up on 8 chapters in your “Bible in a year” reading plan.
Maybe you planned to do a daily prayer journal, but you’re struggling to fit it in each day.

Or, maybe you’re going strong, but it’s getting harder every day. You know you have a busy week up ahead, which might trip up your daily prayer journal plan. You know Leviticus is looming in the Bible reading plan, and that’s famously where those plans go to die.

But most New Year goals die out within a month or two precisely because they are goals.

As James Clear points out in Atomic Habits, the key isn’t to try to do something, but to become someone. All-or-nothing goals give us the illusion that we can just work really hard at something once and have it over with. Focusing on trajectory and doing things as part of an identity we want to develop gives us reason to keep going after a stumble.

Let’s say you don’t finish that Bible in a year plan… but because you still want to be a daily Bible reader to the best of your ability, maybe you’ll finish it next April. That’s a lot better than throwing in the towel on March 9 when the sacrifices get a bit overwhelming and you’re too far behind to get done with the plan by the end of the year.

Maybe sometime this month you stumble and commit a sin you’re trying to overcome. Quitting cold turkey is an admirable goal, but most don’t pull it off. You don’t need a 30 day streak to validate the effort. Learn what you can from the fall, and get back up and keep moving. God’s grace accounts for our slow growth, and as long as we keep confessing and moving forward, He keeps forgiving (1 John 1:6-10).

If you’re right on track, keep going! But don’t let a stumble knock you down. If you’re struggling out of the gate, don’t worry. Each day is another chance to grow.

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These articles are written to encourage Christians, and to be used by churches for their weekly bulletin. All I ask is that credit is given with my name and the web address, bible101.substack.com

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