Happy New Year sis!
We are 2 days into the new year and hopefully you have already started working on the goals and things you want to accomplish in 2020. (If you haven’t set any yet, be sure to grab 2 resources I shared here.)
Speaking of goals, today I want to share some things we want to consider doing this year to help us reach our goals. When she first released her popular song Level Up in July 2018, singer Ciara may have been onto something that might be applicable for us in 2020.
Let me just put this disclaimer out there and let y’all know I am late to the game with this song. I guess I’m a bit out of touch at times. I mean I only recently found out a few months ago about this #Kekechallenge that apparently went viral. I know, I know. But hear me out…
The beat is catchy and when I was younger, a great beat usually had me sold. As I have gotten older, my music selection has changed. I realized while beats can initially grab your attention, it’s the lyrics that really make the difference. I didn’t want to just be bobbing my head to something that I didn’t agree with or subscribe to so I’ve learned to listen to the lyrics first, before I officially determine I like a song.
I Googled the song lyrics so I could really understand what she was saying. As I listened to it, I began thinking about the whole idea of Leveling Up and what that may mean for you and I in 2020, especially as it relates to our view of things. Let me highlight some of the lyrics below:
Them old mistakes are gone, I won’t do them no more
Level Up by Ciara
That’s old news, there’s new news, I done did that before
I turned nothing to something, my comeback on one hunnid’
Less talking, more action, you just gon’ CiCi coming
I just keep elevating, no losses, just upgrading
My lessons, made blessings, I turned that into money
Thank God I never settled, this view is so much better
I’m chilling, I’m winning, like on another level
Leveling up, according to Ciara, means elevating or improving from where you currently are, i.e. graduating from it and not settling. Isn’t that what we want to do in 2020–move from where we currently are in our lives, hopefully to a view that is so much better? We DON’T want to make the same old mistakes we made in 2019 or previous years. We DO want to turn nothing into something. We want to keep elevating, allowing our lessons to be made blessings.
The word elevate means, ” to lift up or make higher; to improve morally, intellectually, or culturally” according to Merriam Webster dictionary.
So how do we do this in 2020? It starts with renewing our mind with His Word, seeing things from His perspective, letting go of dead weight and shifting our focus to Christ. Before we set goals, while we are setting goals and when we are actively working on our goals in 2020, we need to be doing these 3 things below.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:2, NLT
1. Renewing your mind and allowing God to change the way you think will help you to know His will for you–one that is good, pleasing and perfect. Therefore, following the world’s customs and behavior will hinder God from changing your thinking and thus, you don’t change.
So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from His perspective.
Colossians 3:1-2, the message
2. Seeing things from Christ’s perspective will help you to pursue things (and goals) over which Christ presides and not the things around or in front of you .
…let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2, NLT
3. We must learn to let go of anything and every weight that slows us down or trips us up. Ciara said it herself later on in the song, “Fake friends get dropped like weight.”
Our actions, or lack thereof as it relates to our goals in 2020, is a direct result of what we are choosing to think about or focus on. Our ability to move forward and achieve the goals we desire in 2020 is directly proportional to our thinking. When we begin elevating our thinking and mindset above what we were thinking and focusing on before, taking on the mind and perspective of Christ, we will see our 2020 leveling up.
Which of the above do you need to work on in 2020? Here’s how I can help.
Here’s to you Leveling Up this year!
Genesis 2:22, NLT
Scripture references: The Holy Bible (NLT)
References: Merriam Webster dictionary
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Lady In Waiting 222 