“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. As you continue to place your trust in God, He will continue to fill your heart with joy, peace, and a hope that overflows into the lives of the people around you.” – Romans 15:13
As the year 2020 has come to an end, we tend to reflect on significant events that have affected us, whether they were positive or negative. As we reflect on the events of the year, we often develop resolutions for the new year. We see these resolutions as an opportunity to determine how we can improve or become better than we were in the previous year. This could mean we want to better ourselves physically, emotionally or mentally. While setting these resolutions may be helpful, we cannot neglect an evaluation of our spiritual condition as well.
Sometimes as Christians we may look past what God wants for us because considering this requires us to confront our sin or spiritual apathy. We want to be under our own control instead of His, and we end up becoming obsessed with fixing how we look on the outside rather than working on our spirits on the inside. Instead, we should look to what God says about us and learn how we can abide in Him. God gave us the Holy Spirit to help sanctify and transform us through His Word. Through abiding in Him, we can be filled with peace and joy despite the chaos that may be around us.