BIG Truth for 2023

We’re already more than a week into 2023 and already it feels like the days are flying by. This past year I’ve been listening to podcasts and thinking a lot about goal setting.

I’ve never had trouble setting goals. I’ve had trouble getting them done. I love my paper and pens, I like lists and jotting down ideas. I love mapping a process from A to Z but I have such a hard time turning the lovely bullet points into check marks in the done column.

I’ve heard it before…you’re a great starter but a poor finisher. This pronouncement rings, no clangs, around in my head every time I think about a great idea or embark on something new.

I have honourable intentions. My ideas are solid, they are thought through and mapped carefully because I know they will be good for me or good for others as a source of encouragement.

So how come I struggle to finish?

That’s the BIG question. It’s layered, but the pat and simplistic answer isn’t the right one: the one that says I’m just lazy or foolish or a dreamer with no substance. Wrong.

What’s the right answer then? The right answer is that I’m probably the most afraid of failure. Afraid of committing myself to things I perceive to be beyond my ability to achieve. Afraid of ridicule and finger pointing, afraid of the laughter with “I told you so’s” behind it.

When I dig a little deeper, (hey do you feel like I’m on a couch in some therapists office?) I realize the root of it all is so simple. I’ve been afraid to be me.

In 2022 I made a conscious decision to work at accepting myself, all of me. The good parts are easy to love and celebrate. The bad parts? Well, bury and run has worked in the past but I decided not to let myself off the hook so easily.

Truth is the only thing that can expose lies. So, understanding truth and applying it has to be priority #1.

Philippians 1:27 says that we are to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. Does it say to run and hide when things get tough? Does it give us permission to quit short of the finish line?

No, it most definitely does not.

In 2023 I’m going to let some truth soak into my heart. Truth that I know will help me finish well. Truth that will help me refocus on Christ and not on my fear of failure. Truth that will gut-punch lies I’ve told myself so that I can be exactly who the Lord created me to be, fully. Truth that emboldens and empowers me to live a life worthy of the gospel.

Are you ready for my BIG truth for 2023?

There’s only one me.

I am knit together by design.

I am lovingly created to worship my Lord and Saviour.

I am created with gifts and talents for the sole purpose of encouraging others and bringing glory to God.

I am responsible to accomplish the good works that were assigned to me before the foundations of the earth were laid.

I was created ON purpose, WITH purpose and FOR purpose!

The “me” of me is exactly who I am supposed to be.

All of these truths apply to you as well. The only thing I am not unique in, is that God created each of us with this same set of truths. Do you see how utterly foolish it is then, to run after the crowd? How foolish we are to demean ourselves and cry over all the things we hate about ourselves? How pitiful it is to wish ourselves different?

Colossians 3:1 & 2 says that we are to set our hearts and minds on the things above and not on earthly things. I like how these verses give us the practical application on how to live in a manner worthy of the gospel.

I can imagine Paul setting out on his missionary journeys, his feet pointed in the right direction. I imagine his heart set and eyes focused, steadily looking ahead towards his calling, surveying the task at hand. I can vividly see all heaven watching him fulfill his purpose and celebrating with unrestrained joy.

I want that. Pointed in the right direction, not fearful of people, not anxious about tomorrow. I want my eyes focused on Jesus, on his great love for me and the incalculable price he paid so that I could enter into deep relationship with him. I want to accomplish the work I was created to do so that Jesus Christ is glorified.

I hope you know that the big truth for 2023 is yours too. Let’s embrace ourselves as loved by God, called according to his purpose and an intrinsic part of his master plan.