Do you find it difficult to maintain your New
Year's resolutions? Do you lose motivation by
week two? Do you feel burnt out just by the thought
of reinventing yourself? Whichever category you
fall into, this episode is for you. Hey Forever
God Girl, I'm your host Iz and welcome or welcome
back to the Forever GodGirl podcast. Happy New
Year! With the new year comes new expectations
to be a new person, but if time and time again
we fail, what are we doing wrong? Let's start
there. One, we don't consult God first. In Isaiah
11 verse two it says, the spirit of counsel and
strength, the spirit of knowledge, and the reverential
and obedient fear of the Lord. So if the Holy
Spirit is all these things and we're not going
to him first, no wonder why all our plans fail.
Now because it's the new year, we're going to
see a bunch of podcasts, videos, and books telling
us how to reinvent ourselves for 2026. But I'm
here to tell you that we cannot reinvent ourselves
and have it last. We rely on the Holy Spirit
as children of the Lord and as Forever GodGirls.
Which brings me into the second thing that we
tend to do wrong. We are trying to run off of
motivation. Wait, I thought motivation was a
great thing though. It is to start us off, but
here's the problem with running off of it solely.
Motivation is not the same thing as discipline,
because discipline is spiritual. We can get motivated
by literally almost anything in the world. Don't
get me started on the Ted Cox and self -help
book, but we cannot practice self - discipline
without the Holy Spirit because it is a fruit
of the Spirit. Galatians 5 22 says the fruit
of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness,
and self -control or in other versions self -discipline.
Okay, so motivation and discipline are two different
things. Correct, because motivation is only step
one. Have you ever been in a situation where
you're scrolling online, you see a video that
motivates you, so you get up and start cleaning
your room, and then you get to the point where
everything is on the floor, so now you have to
clean your room, but you've lost motivation?
Wait, wait up though. I'm already a pretty disciplined
person without the Holy Spirit. Like, I'm an
athlete and I do sports and I have to work out
for that. So, doesn't that make me disciplined?
Yeah, physically, but not spiritually. Because
like I said, discipline is spiritual. You can
control your body, but can we control our mind?
Can we control our souls on our own? That's where
the Holy Spirit comes into play. It's just like
in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 25 through
27, which says, prize that will fade away but
we do it for an eternal prize so I run with purpose
in every step I am not just shadow boxing I discipline
my body like an athlete training to do what I
should he's saying that he's disciplined through
the power of the Holy Spirit because he's motivated
to reach the eternal prize this scripture actually
brings me into point number three we don't know
our reason why have a reason why, or we don't
have a practical slash sufficient reason why.
Why do I want to become a better person and create
better habits? What am I working towards? Who
am I doing it for? And what is my motivation?
Obedience to Christ should be our reason why.
Being more Christ -like should be what we are
working towards as well as our eternal prize.
Jesus, then ourselves, should be who we are doing
it for. Stuff like dying to the flesh and gaining
our eternal prize should be our main motivation.
For example, walking or running a couple miles
low -key becomes more doable when we realize
that Jesus literally walked an average of 20
miles a day. And I'll be honest, sometimes it
is difficult to keep going even when we know
our why just because we have flesh and the flesh
wants to be lazy. But in Ezekiel 36 verses 26
and 27 it says, and I will give you a new heart.
I will put a new spirit in you and I will take
out your stony stubborn heart and give you a
tender responsive heart. I will put my spirit
in you so that you will follow my decrees and
be careful to obey my commands. Four. When we
make our big resolutions slash goals, we don't
take any steps to accomplish our goals. For example,
if my goal is to drink more water, I can't just
write it on the paper and expect it to happen
by itself. I have to set myself up for success
by making practical ways to drink more water.
Those practical steps could be carrying my water
bottle around with me or putting flavor in my
water so that the taste is more appealing. But
I hope you get what I'm trying to say. Sometimes
we don't reach our goals because they seem so
daunting, but if God puts something on your heart,
He'll make a way and He'll give us the wisdom
to see how we can reach that goal in smaller,
practical, easier to manage steps. Number five.
I'ma hold your hand when I tell you this. We
justify being lazy because when we justify being
lazy it's easier to give up. Oof. Got convicted
on that one too. Yes, give yourself grace if
you mess up, but no, don't justify being lazy
and give up because laziness is a sin. Proverbs
is very blunt when it comes to laziness. Proverbs
13 -4 says lazy people want much but get little.
Proverbs 25 verse 21 says, despite their desires,
the lazy will come to ruin, for their hands refuse
to work. Don't just talk about how you want to
be productive, but do it through the power of
the Holy Spirit. And we can activate the power
of the Holy Spirit in our lives by simply praying,
help me, Holy Spirit. Because remember this in
the book of Proverbs chapter 14 verse 23, work
brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty.
Okay, now that I know what we're doing wrong,
how do I better myself in 2026? Well firstly,
we gotta start by thinking differently. It's
not us bettering ourselves, it's allowing the
Holy Spirit to finish His good work in us. Psalm
100 verse 3 says, it is God who made us and not
we ourselves. And Philippians 1 -6 says, and
I am certain that God who began the good work
within you will continue His work until it is
finally finished on the day when Jesus Christ
returns. Two, we need to use the tools that the
Holy Spirit has given us because if I want to
build a shed and I have the hammer and all the
tools in my hand but I refuse to use them...
Well, that shed ain't gonna be built because
the Bible literally says that God gives us tools
and he gives us the ability to create wealth
with those tools. So even if you don't have a
phone, a computer, or a tablet, we do have a
pen and paper. So write down your prayers and
plan your days because if we fail to plan, we
plan to fail. And three, serve others more because
it is more blessed to give than to receive. With
all the talk about bettering ourselves, let's
help to better others. It's very easy to become
self -centered, which is basically what the whole
new year thing revolves around because it's like,
how can I better myself? What tools do I need?
Me, me, me, me, me. But when we are focused on
letting the Holy Spirit do his work in us, we
operate in the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which
include kindness and goodness. Instead, use your
freedom to serve one another in love, for the
whole law can be summed up in this one command,
love your neighbor as yourself. Now it's time
for our special segment, You Know What Hot Takes,
where I post some hot takes on Instagram, and
y 'all vote for which ones you agree with. Firstly,
I asked, do New Year's resolutions actually work?
33 % said yes, goal setting is important. 0 %
said nah, I'm too lazy to keep up with them.
And 67 % said yeah, if you do them correctly.
Secondly, this is kind of a controversial question.
When does the Christmas tree come down? 50 %
said the day after Christmas, 50 % said New Year's
Eve, and 0 % said February or March. When does
your Christmas tree come down? The last question,
New Year's resolutions are overrated? 50 % said
nope, they're helpful, and 50 % said totally,
they never work. Now I wanna know, what is your
opinion on all these hot takes? If you didn't
get a chance to vote, Make sure you're following
us on Instagram @forevergodgirlpodcast so
you can be a part of the polls. And remember
to ask your parent or legal guardian for permission
first. That was such a great special segment.
But now it's time to talk about something even
more important and even more exciting, salvation.
Here's a word from Zi. So, if you have a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, then this message
will help you. But, if you don't have a personal
relationship, with Jesus Christ, I invite you
to give your heart to the Lord today. To receive
him into your heart, go to Romans 10, 9 -10.
It says, If you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has
raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
If you said this prayer with sincerity, you are
saved and now have eternal life with Jesus. You
are saved from all your sins, past, present,
and future sins you may commit. This truth is
not a free pass to sin anytime. Instead, Jesus
gives you power over all wrong choices and empowers
you to spread the gospel to others. You are saved
forever, and your name is written in the Book
of Life. Did you just give your life to Jesus?
Because if you did, give yourself a pat on the
back. We are so godly proud of you. Thank you
so much for listening to this podcast episode.
I trust that it helped you and that you learned
something. And remember, the Holy Spirit motivates
us to start, but he also gives us the discipline
to keep going. Hey, Forever GodGirl, did you
like this episode? If so, please follow us, rate
us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and
anywhere you listen to podcasts. And visit us
on our website at forevergodgirl.com. That's
how you help us spread the good news.