10 Lessons from 2023

Are you a reflective person?

As you go about living your life, do you ever take time to consider how you’re living?

Do you ever ponder what you have learned along the way?

Pastor H.B. Charles, Jr. proposes that an “unexamined life is rarely effective.”

I suspect he’s right.

So if we don’t tend to reflect on our lives, perhaps we should start, huh? And what better time than the last month of the year?!

With the hope of getting you in the “reflection mood,” I’d like to share 10 lessons I learned in 2023. After reading them, perhaps you can write a few of your own.

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1) God is faithful, even when we are not.

2) God has a good plan, even when we don’t understand it.

3) God’s opinion of us outweighs everyone else’s opinions—even our own.

4) We should be careful about forming strong opinions of people we do not know. (And seeing people on TV does not count as knowing them.)

5) Some people speak without adequate thinking. Filter their words accordingly.

6) When people show us who they are, we should believe them.

7) Allowing unforgiveness and bitterness to remain in our hearts is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.

8) God will not prevent all our pain. But when He does not prevent us from it, He will preserve us in it.

9) We can be the most self-centered when we’re hurting. It’s okay to acknowledge our pain. Let’s just remember that others are hurting too.

10) When we don’t feel like moving forward in God’s purposes for our lives, do it anyway.

I pray some of my lessons from this year have blessed or encouraged you. And I pray you make time to reflect on your own lessons. Feel free to share some with me, if you’d like!

Your Sister-Friend,

Leah