As we start to gain a bit of traction in this new year, a trend keeps popping up online: choosing a word for the year. This idea isn’t new, but has become more prevalent lately. The exercise of finding your word is meant to guide you; to keep you focused on your goals. In the secular world, it’s often connected with success or self-care, working towards an achievement, or increasing mindfulness.

Here are some words for 2025 that I’ve come across: Resilience. Health. Abundance. Serenity. Confidence. Balance.

The Christian world has also jumped on board. Instead of purely self-centered goals, I’ve seen special words such as these: Gratitude. Peace. Trust. Hope.

What about you? Is choosing a word for the year an exercise that has helped you?

I have a suggestion.

What if our word this year was simply “Jesus”?

What if we made Jesus our reference point? Our over-arching desire? Our goal in every situation? What would that look like?

I think it would look a lot like prayer. Like humility. Like an awareness of his presence. Like trust.

The Jews have a name for their version of this: the Shema. Its taken directly from Deuteronomy 6:4, which begins as follows:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

Devout Jews say the Shema every morning and evening, as well as Sabbath days and holidays. It’s a regular reminder of who God is, and who they are in relation to him.

A 17th century monk, Brother Lawrence, is known for a way of life described in a book of his words called “Practicing the Presence of God”. In addition to the set times of prayer that a monk’s life required, he learned to live his in-between minutes with an awareness of God with him in all of his ordinary tasks.

Brother Lawrence didn’t have a word for the year. He didn’t need to. He just quietly set his heart on Jesus day by day, moment by moment. He wrote:

“Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.”

I came to faith in the middle of the Jesus Movement of the early 1970’s. It was an exciting time, and like all modern American movements, marketing followed closely on its heels. The Calvary Chapel movement coined the slogan “One Way”, pointing to Heaven, and it quickly was appropriated to bumper stickers and the like. This was before the 80’s days of WWJD bracelets (What Would Jesus Do?) and the plethora of Christian stuff we see today.

Christian jewelry also became popular, most notably the “Ichthys” fish design containing Greek letters representing “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior”. Wearing it identified you as family to other believers, or as a “Jesus Freak” to others. I wasn’t allowed to wear even a simple cross at home, but I bought a small Ichthys necklace to hide under my shirt. I wanted to be identified as a member of the Jesus club, to share that special bond with others who understood.

One day, a sweet friend gave me a pin that read “Jesus First”. Those two words became a reminder and a challenge. A reminder that I am not my own; that I am daughter, friend, and servant to a King. They also represented a challenge: if I wore those words on my collar for all to see, I’d better live like they’re true. That little pin helped me to remember who I am. And in the remembering, to have purpose for life.

So many words of the year we choose pertain to our desires, our goals, and our effort. But what if, over all of our life, we chose Jesus first?

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20