How to determine the quality of your New Year …

I read a post yesterday from a lady who was writing about her “blessings” this past year. She wasn’t counting her “blessings,” she was wallowing in them. She was going on and on about all the “blessings” of this past year, and especially how curious she was about how she would be “blessed” in the coming year.

For her, the quality of 2019 will depend on how “blessed” she will be.

She’s not alone. We all tend to be opportunity seekers, it just depends on what kind of opportunity we’re looking for. Many of us are looking for that opportunity to be “blessed.” But I would suggest there’s a greater measure to determine the quality of the coming New Year — not by searching for blessings to hoard, but by searching for opportunities to bless others. That’s a mindset and behavior the apostle Paul urges us to adopt …

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too,” Philippians 2:3-4.

If you’re putting together plans and resolutions that will set up the value of your new year based on what you gain, rather than what you give, you’re setting yourself up for a limited, selfish experience. Such plans are intentional about getting, and have no strategy for being a blessing to others.

Have you been focusing your 2019 goals on getting as much as you can, or searching for opportunities to give as much as you can? Are you in search of blessings, or being a blessing? Your answer will have a dramatic impact on your life in the New Year.

Scotty