As water reflects the face, so ones life reflects the heart.

Proverbs 27:19 CSB

The new year is here and were ready to start our resolutions! To get the year off to a good start and correct mistakes we have made in years past, to keep up with our fitness goals and lead a healthier lifestyle. Maybe even forging a new career path or figuring out how we will grow in an existing position at work. But are we also setting goals for our relationship with God? Did we set an intention for how much deeper we want to go, how much more revelation we want to expect from the Holy Spirit? Did we ask what new places He wants to take us in the new year and really lean in and listen for the answer? I think one of the most important things we can do in life is realign ourselves in Christ in the new year. Settle ourselves in the things of God, and use that to make decisions of what we focus on going forward. So let's see what God says about what our lives should look like.

The Word says in proverbs that our lives reflect our hearts and to be specific, the condition of our hearts. Sometimes our lives are shiny and pretty, filled with lots of friends and a great job. To really evaluate the condition of your heart, we have to look at the quality of the relationships inside of that life. Do you have friends that will speak life over you, are you and your husband doing well, do your kids feel comfortable coming to you, sharing with you? We might think that these things are a reflection of THOSE people and not us but thats where God wants to invade- Romans 12:2. For example, God wants to give you friends that are people you can do life with, that will encourage you and lift you up and not only see, but pull out and speak to the gold He has placed in you. To do that we have to set boundaries. What is ok and what we won't allow , and most importantly be open to who God brings into our lives.

What about your relationship with your children? Yes, these little people we are in charge of raising up have the ability to change our tone, our mood, and our happiness if we allow it. Letting God guide us in this area and speak to what He wants to do in our children will significantly change the quality of our lives! But also listening to where He wants to take them, what they might be going through or where their hearts are is just as important in transforming our realtionships. Taking this time to tune into what God wants to do in their lives can change the way we parent them, the way we love on them and pray for them. It can also change the amount of patience we have for them, and amount of grace we show them.

When looking into the reflection of our lives, God wants the water we look into to be fresh, clear and sparkly, not murky and filled with things that we are pushing away, hidden under the surface. He wants our hearts clear so we can move and operate in this life fully and not encumbered or weighed down by anything. Ephesians 1:18

So that brings me to our marital relationships, and what condition that is in. When I say marital, if not with a husband this relationship is the one we have with Christ because until we are married, our husband is Christ- Revelation 19:7. I will say that, this is the area I struggle with the most and so it is the area that God has grown me in the most. This is because this is the area that I continually lay at His feet, and I feel confidant doing this because God says to 'cast our cares on Him because He cares for us' -1 Peter 5:7 . The quality of this relationship completely centers around how much of Jesus you are allowing into your relationship. Whether with your husband or with Jesus, how much are you letting Him talk to you, show you and change in this place. Do you listen to what He has to say? I will say the most AWESOME , intelligent, wise person you can ever get advise from is Jesus because not only will He give you the right answer but it will be given with grace, and a sweetness that is unmatched elsewhere.

What do your relationships say about your life and where you might want to take your resolutions? What is God showing you in this moment about where He wants to take you this year? Where does God want to grow you spiritually and what is He saying about your work, your life and your health? Take the time to center your self with Jesus and ask Him these questions, then sit quietly and wait for the answer. If they dont come right away its ok, sometimes God wants our presence, wants to sit with us awhile. But He always answers.