Got a Love/Hate Relationship with New Year’s Resolutions?

Many of our New Year’s resolutions don’t last very long. Goals you’ve taken time to pray about and receive from God are much more useful. In the 5-minute talk below, C. Anderson shares her process of setting goals for the New Year.

Happy New Year! May 2023 be your most fruitful year ever!

Interested in taking advantage of the 50% off New Years’ discount on the Getting Started in Disciple Making Movements course? Click the link below. This coupon expires soon so don’t delay.

The transcript of the video is below.

I have a love-hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. How about you? Yeah. Like most people, and there are a lot of us like this, there are a few things that I set a goal for every single year. Things like exercise or weight loss that well, let’s just say they usually only last a few weeks before we abandon that goal and move on.

Thus the hate-love relationship with New Year’s resolutions. But why do I love them? I want to share that with you as well. I guess it’s the feeling of hope and new opportunity that each New Year brings. I love that.

And it’s the deep understanding in my heart that God can do the impossible through me if I will just refuse to keep showing up and keep making myself available to Him. It also comes from a deep faith in God’s promises that say nothing is impossible for Him if we will believe. And I think New Year’s is a great time to look back and give thanks to God for all that he’s done. And it’s a good time to evaluate and process and then look to the future.

My name is C. Anderson. I am a disciple-making movement trainer and coach if you don’t already know me. And I’m excited about talking with you about this process of making new goals for the year. So I like to use the same process we use in a Discovery Bible study where we look back, we look up, and we look forward. Or sometimes we call it the three-part meeting.

I start the New Year by looking back and saying, what did God do through me and in me in this past year? What did I learn? What went well, and what didn’t go so well? And how can I change my strategy or efforts in the coming year to be even more fruitful and effective? Then I look up.

I look up to God and I say, God, what is it that you want to say to me? I take time to listen, and I really want to challenge and encourage you. Take at least a few hours to get away with God and hear his voice. What’s his assignment for you this year? What are his priorities?

So often my priorities and God’s priorities are different. And I need to refocus and look up and say, god, what is your assignment for me this year? What is it that you want me to prioritize as my most important thing, the one thing that without fail, I’m going to work on in the coming year? And, you know, when we listen to God and we’ve taken that time to look up, our lives are a lot more fruitful. Lastly, I encourage you to take the time to look forward.

Look forward. And again, I don’t like to call these things New Year’s resolutions, but I do call them New Year’s goals. Goals that I’ve made together with God in prayer. As I look at the new year. What is it I’m aiming for?

What is it that I’m believing God will accomplish through me? Maybe you’re going to set a goal about something like starting a new disciple-making group in a new area. God will show you a new place to focus on. Or maybe you’re going to set a goal about a disciple-making habit. Like doing a prayer walk in my neighborhood at least three times a week.

Or building a new team, casting vision to others about making disciples, and starting a group of disciple-makers that meets together and works together to reach your community. Or maybe it’s growing in a skill, like learning how to share the creation to Christ story effectively or maybe even in a local language that you’re learning. Or maybe it’s a goal that has to do with sharing frequency. Like, I’m going to try to share my testimony with at least three people every single week in the coming year. God has those things for you as you prayerfully, seek him look forward and make some goals. I encourage you to write them down and then share them with at least one other person.

Because when we write goals down, it’s 70% more likely that we will actually do these things as the year closes out and 2023 begins. I want to wish you a very happy New Year. I pray God would make it your most fruitful year ever. And to help you out with that, we are offering a 50% off sale on the Getting Started in Disciple Making Movement course. So click the link to find out more about that.

50% off of our normal price and also of our scholarship price. If you applied for a scholarship previously, we’re slashing that in half to help you get started with a great program and a good plan so you can move forward in making disciples in the coming year. God bless you guys. Have a very, very happy New Year!