6 Questions for the New Year

There’s just something about this time of year that has everyone thinking about all the improvements they want to make in their lives. We set goals for our health and finances. We determine to be more creative, more adventurous, or more engaging. We ponder what new habits we would like to form and what old habits we would like to overcome. We make lists and promises, and determine to become a better version of ourselves over the course of the year.

Self-reflection and goal setting are admirable, necessary, and biblical practices. When God’s people had grown careless in their relationship with God, He rebuked them through the prophet Haggai and invited them to evaluate the condition of their hearts before the Lord.

^“Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.”
Haggai 1:5-7

Like the people of Israel, we often settle for rearranging the external circumstances of our lives. But here’s the thing: I can lose weight, learn new skills, save money, and stay organized just like I resolved to at the start of the year, and still wind up feeling discontent and discouraged at the years end because none of these goals are anchored in what is eternally satisfying and fulfilling.

So as we head into 2024, let us “consider our ways” with greater intention. Here are six questions to prayerfully ask yourself as you pause to reflect on the direction of your life.

      1. What steps can you take to be in the Word more in 2024?

In Deuteronomy 32:47 after Moses had finished reading from the Scriptures to the people Israel he declares, “For this is no empty word for you, but your very life.” What would it look like for you to treat God’s Word as if it were your very life? To come to the Word each day with an eager expectation of hearing from God? Find a devotional, pick a reading plan, or join a Bible study that will encourage you to be more engaged in Scripture.

      2. What could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

We grow in faithful dependence on the Lord when we come to Him in prayer. Instead of picking yourself up by your bootstraps and trying to get through seasons of sorrow, pain, and disappointment on your own strength, cry out to the One who alone can rescue you. Make it a goal to begin praying the Bible, reading the Scriptures and turning them into prayers. Start a journal to record your prayers and the ways you see the Lord answer them.

      3. Who is one person you can come alongside to encourage and build up this year?

When we learn to comfort others with the comfort we have been given and stir one another up towards love and good deeds, we grow and change in ways that otherwise would not be possible. Who could you pour into in the months ahead? In what ways can you be the hands and feet of Christ to someone who is hurting? How might God use you in the life of another to bring hope and healing?

      4. How can you grow in community in 2024?

We were not meant to do this life alone. What would it look like for you to get more deeply connected in the lives of other believers? How could you use your time and talents to serve in the local church? We are stronger together when each part of the body is doing their part. Get plugged in. Invite someone over. Practice the discipline of hospitality. Gather together.

      5. How can you cultivate a grateful heart this year?

Gratitude is a powerful antidote to bitterness. Ask the Lord to open your eyes to His mercies. Write down the things you are thankful for each day and reflect on them often. The more you look for God’s provision, the more you will find it. As you approach each day with a thankful heart before the Lord, your awareness of the countless gifts He gives increases.

      6. What area of your “old self” can you put off, and what can you put on in its place?

Ephesians 4:22-24 reminds us to “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Is there a stronghold of sin or deed of the flesh that you can focus on putting off through the power of the Spirit? How can you strive to become more like Christ in this year ahead?

There is nothing magical about these questions, but I do hope that as you reflect on these things, as you “consider your ways” in 2024, you will experience the lasting peace, joy, and contentment that come from living according to the ways of the Lord. Let this year be the year that you live out the great hope you have been given in Christ.

Ashlee is the Editorial Coordinator for Hope Mommies and author of their I AM, Identity, and Sojourn Bible studies. She and her husband, Jesse, live in Milwaukee with their children—five on earth and two in heaven.

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