Are you tired of your list of good intentions that never translate to action? How many times have you made a resolution (and really meant it) only to fail within a few short weeks?
We've all been there. It isn't that we aren't aware of the ways we need to improve…but actually making the changes can be overwhelming. In her book, Girl Wash Your Face, Rachel Hollis talks about this very issue. Sharing about how she has changed her own patterns and behaviors, she explains that she decided to establish a rule in her life that she would never break a promise to herself, no matter how small. And that changed everything. She writes:
If you choose today not to break another promise to yourself, you will force yourself to slow down. You cannot keep every commitment, promise, goal, and idea without intentionality. If you recognize that your words have power and that your commitments carry covenant weight, you won't agree to anything so easily….You'll slow down and think things through. You won't just talk about a goal; you'll plan for how you can meet it. 1
But which promises are the truly important ones to make and keep? We don't have time to achieve every goal on our list. We have to say a lot of no's to say the best yes.
What I'd like to propose to you is that our most important goals are the ones that impact eternity. There are loads of worthy resolutions and self-improvements that no doubt make life more enjoyable. But if we don't make our primary focus our spiritual lives, then our success will be superficial and short-lived. I don't know about you, but one day when I am standing before God giving an account of the choices I've made, I do not want to have a bunch of frivolous, self-centered accomplishments to be all I've got to show Him. God doesn't care how much you weigh, how perfectly decorated and ordered your space is, and how far you got in your career. But He cares big time how you have loved- how you've loved the people He's put in your life, and how you've loved Him.
God also cares about how you love yourself. There's a lot of talk about the importance of self-care, and I am all for it. But true self-care should be more than a band aid; it should address how your soul is doing. Your heart matters to God. He doesn't just want you to believe the right things or behave in a certain way. As a truly good Father, He wants your heart to flourish.
God never intended for us to navigate the spiritual life in isolation. His plan for us has always involved community. We need sisters around us who are encouraging us and challenging us to value the right things, and we need to be fed truth to counter all the lies we're surrounded with.
So who is walking alongside you?
Who is challenging you to grow closer to Christ?
What is helping you know Him better right now, and what is helping you to understand His will for your life?
How is your heart?
Changes in these areas don't just happen automatically. We have to make it a priority to cultivate these kinds of friendship, and then get our eyes off our phones and into God's truth. It means we make a promise to ourselves to put the most important things, the eternal things, on our calendars, and then we follow through. We'll plan for how we're going to get to our goal. The perfect time for this is now.
If you don't know where to start, I encourage you to pick up a copy of Opening Your Heart, our most popular Bible study. It meets you right where you are and offers game-changing, practical Biblical teaching. You'll learn new ways to love yourself and others well. Commit to going through it with a girlfriend to increase the likelihood that your best intentions will turn into real change. Look for a parish near you that is offering the study and get to know even more women like you who are ready to kick-start real change in their lives.
I'm challenging you to move from good intentions to real change. Do you struggle to get your priorities in order? Do you have questions about your faith that haven't been answered? Do you sense that there is something more to the Christian life than what you have been experiencing? Then come on over and dive in to Opening Your Heart. It's tailor made for you- a safe place to come with your questions, confusion, hopes and dreams. I promise you, you won't be the same person by the time you finish the study, in all the best of ways.
Click here to order your copy of Opening Your Heart!
With you on the journey,
Lisa
1. Rachel Hollis, Girl Wash Your Face (Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2018), 17.
