3 Things You Need to Leave Behind (As You Prepare for a New Year)
We are afraid to “look stupid” or don’t want people to think we don’t know what we’re doing, even when (are you ready for this?) we don’t know what we’re doing!😂
Welcome to the 91st issue of The Aim and Soar Life, a weekly newsletter about faith, personal growth, and lifestyle that provides actionable, relatable, and biblically rooted content to help you live abundantly and GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
Merry Christmas Eve, Friend!
Have you written down your goals for the upcoming year, or have you been too busy shopping for Christmas?
Even if you haven’t written anything down yet, I bet you’ve been at least thinking about some things.
This month we’ve been focusing on preparing for our blessings, but to do that, there are some things we must leave behind as we ready ourselves for what God has in store for us in the future.
You might be cooking, cleaning, and wrapping presents, so I’ll get right to the point.
Here are 3 things you we all need to leave behind in order to prepare for a new year:
1. Fear
2. Doubt
3. Pride
Fear
The problem with fear is that it is crippling. It can cause us to go from planning stages to inaction. As a Christian, inaction is a threat to operating in your purpose.
Have you ever had an idea about starting a business, going back to school, writing a book, or some other dream, only to talk yourself out of it before you even got started?
In most cases, we quit because fear takes over and paralyzes us with questions like, “What if I fail or look stupid?” And you wrongfully decide that the possibility of success is not worth the possibility of failure!
Proper planning can reduce your fear of doing something scary, and even if it doesn’t, sometimes you have to do it anyway!
Don’t let fear derail the dreams that God has placed in your heart.
Here’s your meditation scripture for dealing with fear:
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7, NJKV
Doubt
Doubt needs to be left behind because well, it just should. If you haven’t read my post, How to Squash Self-Doubt, do yourself a favor and read it as you enjoy your second slice of pie tomorrow—or tonight. Hey, I’m not judging. LOL
Nothing can thwart God’s plans when He has given us an assignment or placed a dream in our hearts. But we can stall, and hem and haw. We make statements like, “I can’t…” or “I could never…”
Another way we express doubt is to speak negatively about ourselves and our gifts. I’ve talked about the “not good enough syndrome” before. It causes us to feel like we don’t measure up and it’s usually based on us comparing ourselves to others.
When it comes to walking in your purpose, it’s a you vs. you fight. Doubt is the twin of fear because it too can paralyze you into doing absolutely nothing at all.
When God has called you to something, He has already equipped you! If you find yourself falling into a doubt pit, ask God to bless you with the courage to complete whatever assignment He has put before you and kick doubt to the curb!
Here’s your meditation scripture for dealing with doubt:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James 1:5-8, NKJV
Pride
Most times, when we think of pride, we tend to think of people who are full of themselves, whose egos are so big you can’t miss them!
But what about the kind of pride that keeps us “nice people” from admitting we don’t know everything and understanding that it’s okay not to know everything?
From child-rearing to starting a business, it’s okay to need help and to make it known that you need help.
Pride will have you looking like a fool trying to figure out something that’s already been figured out by someone else who can so easily point you in the right direction, mentor you, and/or disciple you. And even if they don’t have it all figured out, they may have more knowledge than you, and sometimes that’s all you need.
We are afraid to “look stupid” or don’t want people to think we don’t know what we’re doing, even when (are you ready for this?) we don’t know what we’re doing!😂
Set aside pride and rely on the community that God has given you as a member of the kingdom. I guarantee you that no matter what situation you find yourself in, there is someone else in God’s family who has already walked that journey and can share some wisdom with you.
Here is a meditation scripture for dealing with pride:
When pride comes, then comes shame;
But with the humble is wisdom.Proverbs 11:2, NKJV
MERRY CHRISTMAS and GOD BLESS YOU!
Peace and Love.
Until Next Time,
GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
Sherrhonda😍
P.S.
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