2023 is here! Do you know what that means? Besides the fact that three years of the 2020s are already gone. It’s time for my annual word of the year announcement! Here is my 2022 word of the year!
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
In 2020 I started the tradition of telling you what my word of the year was for the past year. I also share a bit about what I learned or how it went for me. My word of the year had a slightly unusual journey this year! I even changed words partway through the year, though my purpose was still the same. Let me explain.
Originally, my word of the year was moderation, and my verse for the year was: Let your moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand. My reason for choosing this word and verse was that I wanted to be balanced and not go overboard in certain areas of life while letting other areas slip. Well, part way through the year, I learned that the Greek word there translated moderation actually has an entirely different meaning. So, I switched words, even though my goal was the same.
After that lengthy introduction, are you ready to hear my final word of the year?
“TEMPERANCE”
This word is one of the fruits of the Spirit, which means that it is an attribute we cannot achieve. Only the power of the Holy Spirit living through us can enable us to bear this fruit in our lives. To have self-control in each area of life, we must ask Him to take control and live through us.
But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . temperance: against such there is no law.
Let’s look at some things the end of 2022 and the first part of 2023 have been teaching me about life balance!
1. Assess Your Time Usage
Balance and moderation are hard to achieve, and they’re never something we arrive at. It’s a continual process of growing and changing with our seasons of life. I don’t know that I made much progress in this area throughout the year, but I do have a milestone to share from December.
In December, my mom asked my sister and me to write down for a few days how much time we spent on each activity every day. I didn’t always do the best at keeping up with it, and I certainly didn’t enjoy it or even want to be doing it. But now I’m so glad I did it! I really recommend trying it. It’s very eye-opening, since we can easily get distracted and sucked in on things and not realize how much time we are spending. Plus, it made me waste less time doing things here and there for a minute or two because that made it harder to keep track of time.
2. Prioritize Your Goals
At the end of the few days’ time tracking, I made a list of the major categories in my life where I should be investing my time. I numbered them in order of importance, and for some of them, I wrote down the minimum time I should be spending on them each day.
Doing this task has made a huge difference in planning my days. In my planner habit tracker, I write down Priorities. This is a reminder to think about each of these important activities every day and make sure that I am incorporating them.
If you want to prioritize your time and achieve more balance in your life, I highly recommend taking a few days to assess where you’re at. Then take the time to pray and map out where you should be going.
3. Write Down Routines
Another thing I’m focusing on now is routines. I have written down a morning routine and a bedtime routine. It’s very helpful to be able to look at that list and double-check that I’m getting the routines done that I need to do.
Something that has taken off some of the pressure and made it easier to be consistent is not putting time limits on these routines. Every day is different, and so I’m counting my routines done as long as I do them sometime throughout the day. This has really helped a lot. If I don’t get to everything in the morning, I know that all is not lost and I can still do it sometime throughout the day!
I hope that some of these ideas will be helpful to you as we let the Lord live through us in temperance each day!
Find out my word of the year 2020
Find out my word of the year 2021
Simple Takeaway
- Ask the Lord to live through you temperately each day!
- Assess how you are currently using your time, write down your categories, and prioritize them.
- Incorporate morning and evening routines.
Let’s Chat!
Do you pick a word or Bible verse of the year? What did you pick for 2022? Do you have any tips on balancing your time?
Until next time, ask God to help you balance your time for His glory!
In Christ,
Bethany
Beautiful word for the year! I loved what you said about it, too – so many times we try to do things on our own and “improve” ourselves, but we can only do those things through God’s power. So important to remember!
Aww, thanks, Vanessa! You’re right! We want to change, which is good, but we often just try to jump in and make it happen ourselves, and that never works. What a blessing that God is patient with us and ready to work the change in us if we rely on Him!
Ah, I’ve been trying to work on balance in life too! I haven’t tried picking a word or a Bible verse for the year. I think Temperance is a good one, though.
Balance is such a fragile thing, hard to get and even harder to keep once you have it. Praise the Lord that He works temperance through us when we ask Him! Thank you for commenting, Lily! Praying for you!
These are such great reminders. Thank you so much for this post!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for reading and commenting, Allyson!