It Starts With Jesus

“You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” – 1 Peter 3:4

New year, new me? New goals. New resolutions? Bombarded with aspirations of what to be like, who to be, what to change. Feels like a lot of pressure, right?

It can be exhausting trying to reinvent ourselves every January to keep up with who the world thinks we should be.

What if we started the year different.

What if we got rid of new year’s resolutions.

What if… we started the year with Jesus.

What if we sat with Jesus.

What if we allow Jesus to reveal the beauty that is within us, the beauty that he has placed on the inside of all of us.

What if we look within…

As 1 Peter 3 reads;

“Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewellery, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God” – 1 Peter 3:4-6

“They put their trust in God”

I’m not sure what your 2022 looked like or how it ended. Maybe it was a year filled with joy and excitement, achievement, results. Maybe you got engaged, had a baby, bought a house, fell in love, maybe you said yes to Jesus for the first time… or maybe it was a year of suffering for you, maybe you lost a loved one, maybe you had heart break, maybe you really struggled, maybe you were disappointed.

And maybe 2023 already feels overwhelming…

But what if we start this year differently and look within, not around at our circumstances, that perhaps we didn’t deserve, can’t stop, can’t change, and can’t control.

Instead, what if we clothe ourselves with the beauty we all have within us. What if we start it with Jesus, in his presence.

Let’s take off the clothing other people have put on us and put on the beauty from within that Jesus has given us. Sometimes we might look within and not like what is revealed to us, but that is the beautiful nature of Jesus inside all of us, to help us be more like him and who he has called us to be.

When we clothe ourselves, we are putting something on.

We can control what we wear right?

We can control what comes out of our mouths. We can control how we respond. We can control what we watch, what we look at, who we hang around. We can control our yes and no.

We can control our time with Jesus.

So, this year let’s find more space to spend with Jesus and allow him to reveal all that he has for us.

Because friend, you have a purpose that God placed on the inside of you. You are called for more. You are called by name, created on purpose for a purpose. You are not what people have labelled you. You are not your past. You are a daughter of the living God.

So, let’s put our trust in God as we face all this year has for us, clothe ourselves with the spirit of God, and remember, whenever you get stuck, it starts with Jesus, so start there!

This will be your best year yet! Xo

My prayer for you – read it aloud.

Jesus, I pray as I sit in your presence right now you fill me with your spirit. Give me courage to take off the labels people have given me and clothe myself with your beauty. I trust you today God, I trust you this year and ask you reveal your beauty inside of me. Thank you for loving me just as I am, thank you for calling me by name and help me to be more like you. Keep leading me back to this moment in your presence and remind me to always start with you Jesus. Amen.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.
When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness.”

– Proverbs 31 25-26