2020 Word of the Year | Choosing Your Word

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Part 1: Why have a word of the year and my word for 2019

After hearing a talk at church on having a Word of the Year in 2019, I decided to see if God would give me a word, too!

Then, a friend recommended this book called: My One Word by Mike Ashcraft, which gave me a little more insight and testimonials on the power of having a word of the year.

After praying for about two weeks for God to give me a word, my word for 2019 was FAITH.

And I needed a lot of faith last year. I was going through a rough patch where I felt like a failure. 

I didn’t see beyond the difficulties that kept coming up.

Things weren’t getting better.

Rejected from schools. No job would hire me despite being qualified. Nothing was working out.

[except this faith-based blog :)]

I felt God was distant, but I didn’t want to let go of Him, if that makes sense.

After experiencing so much failure, I had two options.

I could be depressed about it and pity myself, or have faith that God would eventually open doors.

Part 2: My 2019 word of the year was a test of faith

And practically everything that happened to me in 2019 was a test for my faith to grow.

When I was doing things to just do things so I wouldn’t waste time in life, they wouldn’t work out:

Applying to schools that weren’t right; Applying to jobs that I knew I could do, but weren’t ideal and I knew I wouldn’t be happy.

And when I finally took a step back, allowed God to dictate my steps, had faith in what He wanted to do instead of me doing, I felt I was in cruise control. I felt significantly more relaxed and joyful. It was peaceful!

I felt God was telling me to slow down and enjoy the moment, and the pace that my life was going.

Eventually, the right program at school came along. I applied and was accepted.

Then, an awesome job came along which was perfect for what I want to do in the future. I’ve learned so much, and I wish I had this job years ago!

[The crazy thing is I applied to this job during that time that nothing was working out for me. I didn’t get it then, but I got it when God opened the doors!]

When I decided to have faith and to trust God, things happened smoothly. Way better than if I were in control.

The timing was perfect with everything because it matched up with my fiancé’s schedule, too. So we are at a similar pace now. This is such a big help for us, and we are so thankful that God guided us to this.

Part 3: It’s not a prophetic word

Based on my understanding of a prophetic word, I don’t believe that the word of the year is a prophetic word for my life or a personal prophesy.

This word is personal, between God and I.

In general, I am leery of prophetic words and I use these scriptures to support my stance on this:

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5

This word of the year is given to me after much prayer for my spiritual growth this year. God speaks to us directly and I don’t think anyone has to give us a prophetic word in order to hear from God.

Also, this word has nothing to do with anyone except me. And your God-given word has nothing to do with anyone except you. Again, it is personal.

Part 4: My 2020 word of the year and How to choose your word

My 2020 word of the year is actually not a word like last year’s, but God’s Word.

Let me explain…

It’s a bible verse, specifically Titus 2:12, NKJV which says:

“teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,” Titus 2:12, NKJV

Here it is a bit simplified:

“It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” Titus 2:12, NIV

I prayed and prayed, and I spent time reading God’s Word and this one impressed me the most. I knew this was it.

You might be thinking that this isn’t a simple ‘word’ of the year and maybe I heard wrong from God.

But this was what I understood from God as something He wanted me to focus on for 2020.

I made up my mind towards the end of 2019 to do my best to be as transparent as possible which, for me, meant living an honest and dedicated life to God. No more cutting corners, skimping on God’s time, being afraid of sharing God’s Word, white lies, “small’ sins, etc.

And I think this verse is very powerful, especially with how easily influenced we can be in this world.

For instance, everything distracts us. We can’t sit still long enough to focus on a sermon. If it isn’t interesting to us or if we don’t think it applies to us, we tune out. It can be all about us sometimes. We may volunteer or do service work because we might get something out of it, instead of simply to love on our neighbors. We go for pleasures instead of what the Bible says is right.

As Christians we are called to stand out and be different as representatives of God in this world. We need to exemplify Jesus and live with His commandments in our hearts.

See the following bible verses on that:

Romans 12:2, 1 Peter 2:9, Philippians 2:15, Proverbs 1:15, Revelation 7:9

Dear friends,

I encourage you to pray. Ask God to give you a word of the year for 2020 of what He needs to you to work on, improve, or focus on. Maybe it is a word that will prepare you for what’s coming in your life.

And don’t forget to read God’s word. The closer you are to God, the easier it is to discern His voice.

Write to me…

Let me know in the comments if you have a 2020 word of the year, or any thoughts you have on my message. Let me know if you agree or disagree with anything I’ve written above! I’d love to hear from you!

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn (a very very very very small percentage) from qualifying purchases. This helps me continue this blog post and all the tools I need to keep it afloat. Thank you

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Check out other posts here:

What is your view of God? Is He oppressive or not?

Getting through the hard times in life

Don’t forget to share with a friend. Who knows…they may need this encouragement today!