BetterSample

PRAYER:

God, open my eyes to the areas of my life where you want me to live more abundantly by living more in line with you.

READING:

Abundant Life

- Jeff Henderson

When the New Year comes around, everyone starts thinking about how to make the next year better than the last. How are you going to do that?

I just want to put my cards on the table and tell you that I believe your heavenly Father wants this year to be better for you than last year. And here’s why: He wants your life to work. Jesus said that one of the reasons he came here is so that we (you and me) would be able to live life abundantly (John 10:10).

To live more abundantly this year, we need to think about where we haven’t been living well in the past. There are five categories that encompass most of our living: financial, relational, physical, work, and spiritual. Think about these five areas and determine where you’ve lost some momentum. Think about where you are slacking off or being challenged.

If you want to make this year better than last, there’s probably one area, or something within one of these five areas, where you might say you could do better. You may look at last year and say, “My spending sure outpaces my savings. That’s not a great trajectory. I need to change that.” Or there may be a relationship that is faltering. Do you need to invest more time in it? Or is it physical? Maybe you need to eat more broccoli. Maybe it’s your career. Do you need to get better at receiving feedback at work? Or, can you finally start that business you’ve always wanted to start? Perhaps it’s spiritual. Do you need to learn how to rely more on God? 

The first step to knowing how to have a better year is to ask yourself those hard questions. You need to really figure out what isn’t working in your life right now and start taking the steps to change it. 

REFLECTION: 

Analyze the five areas of your life: financial, relational, physical, work, and spiritual. Where within these areas could you do things better in the coming year? Ask God to help you determine a best next step.