Philosophies that I’m personally going to adopt this year
Take time to reflect and to be yourself (in Christ) around God in “free praying.” I’ve always needed this since my mind is so abstract. “Free praying,” much like free writing, is just talking to God about whatever He allows to pop into my head. It’s how I feel like I connect with Him the most intimately. In starting new, structured habits, I won’t let this closeness fall by the wayside.
Don’t let this time be an excuse not to establish consistent prayer and Bible reading habits.
This is something I’ve fallen into forgetting. “Yeah, I felt really close to God last night, so I don’t need to study that big old book of his.” Not true. I’ve forgotten a lot of verses I used to have memorized, and I still have yet to read the whole Bible. I don’t want to fall into reading my favorite passages and missing the tough, obscure, and absolutely necessary ones. In any relationship, I can’t uphold only my favorite duties (like having a birthday party) without upholding the routine duties that aren’t so glamorous (like cleaning up after said party).
Learn how to take life seriously and how to laugh at life’s insanity… simulatenously.
This principle has been hard for me when I know someone else is suffering around me. I feel guilty for feeling happy when someone else could use my empathy. Let’s think about this. It’s only logical that I rejoice because I know God has overcome the world already. There’s a time to empathize and mourn over losses, for sure. But there are more times to laugh and to be hopeful than I usually care to search for. And you know what? If I shake off my fear of people, my light and joyful spirit could even be contagious. When the end of the world really does come, I want to be ripped away from this wretched planet with a smile on my face.
Fight the flesh; kill the flesh. Chase the spirit; relinquish the spirit.
It’s that simple. If you didn’t read my reference to Romans 7-8 earlier, read it. There is a battle going on inside of you every day. If you don’t think there is, your flesh is winning. If you don’t see the battle, test your flesh by going out into the cold or skipping a meal or refraining from a habit, and you’ll see how much of a big baby it is. If you do feel the battle, take heart and rejoice when your spirit wins (but not by giving into your flesh). It’s the small things that will ruin you if you don’t keep them in check. And if you’re faithful in the smallest thoughts in the back alleys of your mind, God will honor them in a complicated and mysterious and humongous way.
The Holy Spirit is the only mentor I need. I don’t need to wait for someone to come along and hold my hand because the Holy Spirit is already holding my hand. I don’t need to wait to get “caught” in sin to know that it’s wrong. God knows my heart, and I know that He knows. And He knows that I know that He knows. That’s some pretty strong accountability right there.
Don’t have a critical spirit toward other Christians.
Man. I am impatient and I freak out when I don’t see absolutely everything God is doing in people’s lives and how He is super dynamic and so are His people! So I’ve gotten very critical. I am ashamed of it, and it has been a pretty evasive attitude for me to catch. Instead, I need to practice what I preach and believe in the church. Convicting. Which leads me to…
Be convicted, but be happy about it.
One of our pastors spoke about this at Faithwalkers. It blew my mind. How can you have your eyes opened to the sin in your life… and be happy about it? But it’s true: Shame and regret are things that keep us in the past — right where Satan wants us to be. Choosing to dwell on our past means giving Satan another victory, and it allows us to fall under a label that God no longer labels us by. When I think about my identity in Christ, I can get happy to shake off the tomato someone threw at me because of my behavior and stand with pride because of my Savior. Moving on!
