Word for the Year - JOYFUL!

I have never liked making New Year's Resolutions. 

Mostly because I can't keep them.

yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk 3:18

I had resolved not to do any this year either.

And then I heard about choosing a word for the year.

A word, what I novel idea.

“the joy of the Lord is our strength” Nehemiah 8:10

It called my heart and talked to me in a way a resolution never has.

But still, I was a bit wary of the concept at start.

A word... kind of like name for the year... like many non-Christian cultures do?

Then a fellow blogger explained how she does this by praying and trying to find what message God has her for the coming year.

I started to notice more and more people doing this.

They would pray and ask for God for a word, something to aspire and work towards for the coming year.

What I liked even more was when I heard about the scripture for the year.

At first I was scared.

I worried if I would imagine everything and just choose something out of the thin air.

So, I was wary and didn't want to take the first step.

 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22

It is too normal for me to doubt myself, belittle the person I am.

The wonderful thing is that God doesn’t think the same way about me.

For Him, I matter, I am important.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12

And He gave me the word.

JOYFUL

This word has a lot of meaning to me, because I have been on a journey towards joyfulness.

Trying to understand what being joyful really means.

And trying to find the joy in Christ.

The real joy, the one that really matters.

So, this year is going to be year of joy, happiness, gladness, elation, lightness, exultation and jubilance.

At the same time, I am even more scared.

Because I know that God gives us the both sides.

And in some ways, this will be another year of sorrow.

Because true joy can be felt only in the presence of sadness.

If you enjoyed this post maybe you would like to read My Top 5 Favorites of 2014.