Live a Better Life in 2023
Live a Better Life in 2023
Everyone wants to be a better person. But wanting and becoming are two different things.
Most of us are acutely aware of our deficiencies: the anger, self-pity, unforgiveness, self-doubt, etc. Deep down, we believe that if we could be a better person that we’d live a better life. Less drama, fewer problems, better relationships, more opportunities, etc.
We make attempts at self improvement, especially in a new year, but they often end in frustration and disappointment. Maybe even despair.
“The desire to please God motivates us to change and the Spirit of God enables us to change.”
How to Live a Better Life
So how does one ever break out of this defeatist cycle? How can 2023 be the year that you finally become the person you’ve always wanted to be?
When I redid my website this year I wanted to come up with a phrase that captured the goal of all my posts through the years. As I looked at the posts and searched my heart, a theme surfaced: my posts were all written to help people live a better life.
How do we live a better life? By being a better person. Be a better person…live a better life.
What’s Your Motivation to Change?
But what distinguishes my writing from other self-help advice is that it’s grounded in a relationship with God… for two reasons. First, and foremost, the goal of being a better person should be to honor God. Self-improvement isn’t simply for me to live a better life. It’s to reflect the nature and character of God…to look like my Father. Being a better person is an act of worship, showing God that I want to be the person that he created me to be.
The Apostle Paul put it like this:
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Ephesians 5:1,2
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. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Philippians 2:3-5
Paul continually called followers of Jesus to be better people and live better lives as a way to honor God and show thanks for saving them.
What Empowers Your Ability to Change?
The second reason self-improvement should be grounded in a relationship with God is because we can’t help ourselves become all that God wants us to be. Self-will and self-help can only take us so far. Without the power of God’s Spirit and the motivation to honor God, self-help will always fall short of true change. Self-improvement, apart from God, is self-serving and short-sighted.
Again, the Apostle Paul informs us of the life-changing power of God’s Spirit:
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. Romans 8:11,12
The desire to please God motivates us to change and the Spirit of God enables us to change. Without the right motivation and power our efforts for self-improvement fail to achieve what God has for us and we will fall short of the best that God has for us or revert to the person we’ve always been.
God’s Life Is Your Best Life
Many people see the Bible as a “to-do” list, that is, a moral code that stands over them always pointing out their deficiencies. But that’s not the purpose at all. God calls us to be like him because we are his children and he longs for us to share his same qualities. He knows that his life is the best life for us.
Live a Better Life in 2023
I’ve written over 300 posts here on my website addressing issues like overcoming anger, setting boundaries, forgiving others, finding self-worth and overcoming loss and setbacks. If you’d like to work on any of these areas I’ve linked a number of posts below to get you started.
You don’t have to be the same person in 2023 that you were in 2022. God wants to take your hand and help you to become a little bit more like him this year. Make it an act of worship and ask God to fill you every day to become the person he created you to be.
Click the links below to read a sample of topics that I address on this site. You can find a search bar on the home page under “All Blogs” where you can find more articles.
I hope that 2023 is a year of positive change for you. Let your motivation be to honor God with your life and you will begin to see things change.
Go to the Home Page to discover all my books, blogs, and coaching options to help you be a better person and live a better life. When you subscribe to readingremy.com you will receive the first chapter to my book STUCK and an occasional blog post.
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