Thinking ahead for spiritual growth in the new year

 

I don't have a Sunday Scripture for you today, but I thought I'd share a few thoughts about spiritual growth.

We're just a few days from the eve of a new year.  I'm not sure how 2024 flew past as it did, but it's gone.  It's that time again when we consider goals or resolutions for the coming year.  I prefer goals, personally.  It seems to me that resolutions can easily be broken (and discarded), but a goal is something you can keep working at even if you fall a little short of it at times.  Even if you don't fully realize a goal, you make progress toward it.  When I set goals for a new year, spiritual goals are always included. 

Our former pastor of many years always taught us (and very accurately, too) that there is no standing still in the Christian life.  We're either moving forward or we're moving backward.  That has always stuck with me through the years and I have seen it proved true over and over.  

So aiming for ongoing spiritual growth is very, very important and I find the start of a new year to be the perfect time to make a plan for it.  As the old saying goes, if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time.  So in every area of life, I try to aim at something, no matter how small it may seem.

I haven't fully formulated my spiritual goals for this year (more to come on that later), but here are a few of my plans for growth:  

🌲 To read through the Bible using a one-year chronological Bible.

🌲 To continue working on Bible studies. My current one is the Daily Grace Co. study of Habakkuk.

🌲 To continue studying Psalms in preparation for my Sunday Scripture posts on my Kitchen Table blog.

🌲 To continually add to my prayer journal in support of a more effective prayer life.

🌲 To grow through the Jim Berg video series we're studying in the adult Sunday School class.  Not just viewing the videos, but studying the lessons and doing the memory work.

🌲 To prepare to teach a ladies' Sunday School class when the video series finishes in a few months.

🌲 To fellowship with our church family and our Christian friends at every opportunity.

May I encourage you to aim for greater spiritual growth in the New Year?  You will not regret having done so.