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Well, it’s a new year and a new decade (depending on who you are talking to). So how are you going to capitalize on this fresh start that God gives us every 365 days? 

I’ll be honest, today feels no different than it did yesterday, aside from the fact that it’s about 10 degrees warmer than it was on the last day of 2019. The day itself feels no different, but this year, I feel different. I don’t usually make a formal new years resolution, because I know myself well enough to know that I’ll break the resolution before the end of the week. For example, I set a goal for myself to consume less sugar this year and I started my day by eating 3 cookies that were left over from the NYE festivities for breakfast. However, just because we may not always succeed in our resolutions, doesn’t mean that we can’t set goals for ourselves. 

One thing we can definitely learn from our heavenly father is that we need to have grace with others, but we also need to have grace with ourselves. If you’re anything like I am, grace for others comes easily in comparison to giving myself grace when I mess up. As I was eating those delicious leftover cookies this morning, I told myself how disappointing I already am and I hadn’t even made it 12 hours into the new year yet. Those thoughts, if left unchecked, will eventually lead me to believe that I am not enough and cannot be enough to be loved by the world or by God.

We lie to ourselves more often than I think any of us would care to admit (like my example above about being disappointing and unworthy), but we can always seek out the truth from God. You see, God doesn’t lie. It’s just not in His nature. He is the creator of all good things. 

That’s where satan comes in to derail our ideas and make us feel like we are “bad.” Like God could never love us because we are too “bad” and we mess up too much or that we were a mistake to begin with. Whether we fall into a life of addiction, promiscuity, greed, pride, or something else, satan tells us that there is no way that we can be redeemed. That nobody could ever love us. 

As a single person, starting out yet another new year relationshipless and with no prospects of any future relationships, it can be hard to believe that anyone could ever love me. It’s hard to believe that I’m worth it. When I can’t even control myself around some leftover cookies, I feel like I’m utterly hopeless and those thoughts of “why even bother” begin to creep in. Those thoughts that say “you’ll never be pretty enough,” “you’ll never be thin enough,” “you’ll never be enough.” Those are the lies that I try so hard to fight back against. And that fight is impossible without Jesus by my side.

So here are 6 verses to start out your new year by recognizing that you belong to God and He has always and will always think that you are enough!

“God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.” Ephesians 2:10

This verse is a reminder that God made you the way He intended to. He did not make a mistake when He made you just the way you are. God not only made you who you are, but He also made a purpose that only YOU can fulfill!

“Be full of joy in the Lord always. I will say again, be full of joy.” Philippians 4:4

God is enough for us, when we take joy in all that He has blessed us with, but especially in the sacrifice of Jesus, which ensures that we can be with Him forever!

“The Father has loved us so much that we are called children of God. And we really are His children.” 1 John 3:1

God has called each of us to be His children. He specifically chose each and every one of us to be His. He didn’t make a mistake when He formed us and He cherishes us enough to call us His own children.

“You have received the Holy Spirit from God. So you do not belong to yourselves, because you were bought by God for a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

As much as we like to think that we are our own, God is the one who paid for us. He gave up His only, perfect son so that He would never be separated from us in death. If that doesn’t show that you’re enough, then I don’t know what will.

“But you are a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession.” 1 Peter 2:9

This verse is another reminder that you were CHOSEN by God. It wasn’t the luck of the draw or an accident that you belong to God. He made a great plan to ensure that you would have a way to be with Him forever and you were bought for a price to be His forever!

“You made my whole being; you formed me in my mother’s body. I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.” Psalm 139:13-14

God made you just the way that He intended for you to be. There is nothing about you that He didn’t give the “ok” on while you were being formed. He made each of us individually for a specific purpose that only each individual can complete. There is nobody else on this planet who is like you and God intended that on purpose.

The new year is a new hope and a fresh start. So I pray that you will seek God every day over the next 364 days and allow His truth, His love, and His beauty to emanate through everything you do. Remember that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), and you have the full power of God behind you in all of your endeavors to fight against the lies of the enemy (Ephesians 6:11). So what will you be doing with this new found purpose in the new year?