How Partnering Can Make 2016 Your Best Year Yet
By Chris Denning
We’re almost 3 full weeks into 2016 and that is NUTS! I don’t know about you, but the beginning of the year has really caught me by surprise. I’ve spent some time trying to finalize my plans for how I want to grow and make 2016 my best year yet, but I’m still not done.
When I thought about it, I realized that MY CHURCH can help me with A LOT of the growth I want to see in myself this year.
At Journey, our goal is to humbly point EVERYONE to absolute HOPE. The main way we believe that we can accomplish that is by PARTNERING with those who want to join with us in that aim. Partnering at Journey is really about 3 key things: Engaging in Community, Finding a Place to Volunteer, & Taking Part in Giving.
With Partnering in mind, I see 3 ways that Partnering at Journey can help us make 2016 our best year yet:
Be More KNOWN.
If we’re being honest, I bet that most of us would say that we wish we had more friends that we could be honest and open with. Shallow friendships tend to be more the norm today than ever before. Sure, these friendships can provide some laughs and people to spend time with, but what about actually being KNOWN by others?
While it can seem like a scary proposition, being known by people will help you to build a foundation of support with others that truly care about you. Being known provides you the ability to process your own thoughts & experiences in a way that helps you become more like Jesus. Community provides you a safe place to be KNOWN.
Be More COMPASSIONATE.
SERVING others helps you to be more COMPASSIONATE. Especially when we volunteer at the church, we are provided the opportunity to increase our compassion for other people. Not only that but being more compassionate will help us in every facet of our lives.
People who are compassionate are people who can truly help others. You would be surprised with how much a small bit of compassion can help others. Whether someone is having a hard time or simply needs someone to walk with them through something, COMPASSION is the FUEL that allows us to LOVE others.
Be More GENEROUS.
Being generous is not something you can fake. Generosity must be CULTIVATED and TENDED to in our HEARTS. One way that God has created for us to do this is by tithing to His Church. This simple act of giving a portion of what we have to the Church builds generosity deep into our soul.
I’m not even specifically talking about being generous with our money. While it may start there, we are called to live a generous life in every aspect. With our TIME, our RELATIONSHIPS, our ENERGY, our EVERYTHING, we should be generous people. Cultivating generosity will absolutely help us to have our best year ever!