It’s 2024, and I’m ready for a reset. The holiday hoopla has passed, Christmas cookies are long gone, and do-nothing days are in the rearview. At least, that’s what I tell myself as I look optimistically towards a fresh new year, filled with opportunity to pursue goals aimed at creating a better me.

Maybe you’ve kicked off the year in a similarly hopeful state? You’re determined this will be the year you eat better, develop a fitness routine, take control of your finances, learn a new skill, or spend more time with friends and family.

In your spiritual life, you’ll make time for prayer and reading God’s word every day, regularly attend church, and join a small group. Pursuing these goals can quickly prove daunting. In fact, the second Friday in January is known as Quitter’s Day, when many have already abandoned their New Year’s resolutions.

I don’t claim to be an expert on how to stick to your goals, but I am proud of one resolution I’ve been able to keep the past couple years. In 2022 and 2023, I’ve read through the entire Bible. I credit my success in this endeavor to one key ingredient: having others to keep me accountable.

For the past two years, I’ve joined a reading plan on a Bible app, first with my mom, and then my mom and sister. Knowing that they would see my daily progress (or lack thereof) motivated me to regularly get into the Word, but our shared study of the Bible quickly took on deeper importance in my life.

I found inspiration as we wrote to each other how the Spirit was speaking to us through the day’s text. I found comfort in shared spiritual struggles, highlighting common verses that challenged us. Even on days when making time for reading felt like one more item to check off my to-do list, I found myself surprised by how often I saw new truths in familiar words.

As followers of Christ, we are compelled to pattern our lives after Him, and in doing so, to point others towards Him. Enriching ourselves with the truth found in God’s word is an essential tool in renewing our minds as we wrestle with how to be in the world but also set apart from it. This is a transformation that cannot be accomplished in a day, week, month, or year. It is a lifelong pursuit, enabled by regularly creating space for God to speak into our hearts through His words and the Holy Spirit.

I don’t share this story as a means of boasting in my own holiness but to encourage anyone who has struggled with regularly getting into Scripture that it need not be a solo endeavor. Share your reading goals with a friend or family member that will regularly check in with you, encouraging you in your commitment. Don’t let a setback discourage you from starting again. His mercies are new every morning.