We are now well into the second week of the new year. How is it going for you so far? Perhaps you began January with energy and resolve—new habits, new intentions, a fresh calendar waiting to be filled. Or maybe the year arrived quietly, and you are still finding your footing. Some of us made resolutions; others of us tend to be more cautious with them. And then there is the practice many of us share of receiving a star word and carrying it prayerfully into the year. Have you noticed it showing up yet—in your thoughts, your conversations, your challenges, or your hopes?
Yesterday, one of my one-line daily devotions offered another kind of guide for the year ahead: values-based living. This concept feels grounding to me. Values-based living asks different questions than goal-based living. Instead of asking, “What do I want, and what’s the next step to get it?” it invites us to ask, “Who do I want to be? Who is my true self, the self God is shaping? And how do I begin to embody that, day by day?”
Goals focus on outcomes. Values focus on formation. Goals can be checked off or abandoned. Values are practiced, returned to, and lived into over time. Goals ask us to do more. Values ask us to become more—more loving, more patient, more courageous, more faithful.
Scripture reminds us that God’s work in us is often quiet and gradual. We are clay in the potter’s hands, branches growing in the vine, followers learning to love as Christ loves. These are not rushed achievements, but faithful becoming.
So as this new year continues to unfold, perhaps we can loosen our grip on perfection and lean instead into presence. Rather than measuring success by how well we keep our resolutions, we can ask gentler, deeper questions: “Am I living in a way that reflects the values of God’s kingdom? Am I becoming more fully the person God created me to be?”
Peace,
Pastor Beth
