How to Grow from 1 Word in 1 Year
The first thing to do after you've chosen your Word of the Year is to believe. There is power in believing your Word is from God, and He will use it for growth in your life.
Welcome to 2024! We’ve entered a new year. You have a chance to put 2023 behind you (good or bad) and move forward with new things in new ways.
By now, hopefully, you’ve done it. You’ve chosen your 2024 Word of the Year. If you have, great job! If you haven’t, I know from experience that can be a tough decision. I encourage you to take the step to choose your 2024 Word of the Year.
For those of you who have chosen your Word, you’re ready to enter into phase two. I’m sure you’re asking, “Now what?”. You didn’t just pick Word for a day but for a year.
How are you going to grow from choosing this Word?
Don’t worry, I have an answer for you. You may have already read my post from a few weeks ago outlining the entire process, but I have more details for you today. So let’s begin at the beginning.
Why does the process of one Word for one Year work?
The Power of Focus
In the last chapter of Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, he calls for unity. Reading that plea in context, you see that he encourages the church members to be considerate to one another, rejoice in God, cast our anxiety on Him, and allow the peace of God to transform our hearts and minds. Then he explains how this will happen:
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." -Philippians 4:8 NIV
I learned this scripture many years ago as I was a teenager. When I was taught it, it was in the context of having a purity of thought, which is beneficial. But Paul’s purpose is so much bigger than that. When you think about the things of God, your entire world is transformed.
You are changed.
This is a core belief I have about this project:
Your Word of the Year is from God.
This means your Word is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Your Word will transform you: your anxiety will lessen, your peace will increase, and your heart and mind will be protected. This is a beautiful promise from God.
Lesson 1: Believe
So, the very first thing to do once you have your Word is to believe it is from God. In the book of Romans, Paul connects the words that come out of our mouths with the belief we have in our hearts (Romans 10:9-10). Paul is writing about salvation, but the principle is true. The first step of faith (in anything) is to speak about it…out loud.
Thousands of years before Paul, Solomon says something similar in Proverbs:
The tongue can bring death or life;
those who love to talk will reap the consequences. -Proverbs 18:21 NLT
I do not believe in manifestation. In other words, I don’t believe if I speak it, it will happen. But I do believe the words I speak hold power. I can kill potential growth by not talking about or negatively speaking about my Word.
My wife, Kia, and I were talking about this the other day. She chose a Word last year, that she felt was from God, but it was an unusual word. The deeper meaning was also a little vulnerable for her. She didn’t truly believe it, which caused a hesitancy in her to share the Word freely.
The result was less growth from her 2023 Word as she had hoped.
How to Foster Growth from Your Word
Here are three practical ways to kickstart the growth in your life in 2024.
1. Speak your Word to a person.
There is something powerful in face-to-face conversations. The first time Kia (and then I) chose a Word of the Year in 2011, she shared her Word with a friend over coffee. She then told me about it. I thought about it and shared my Word, FREEDOM, with her.
Speaking your Word to another person out loud gives your Word power. It is connecting what you sense in your heart with your mouth.
If you haven’t already done this with your Word, think about a good way to do it in your world. Maybe you have a regular coffee date with a friend. You could do it around your dinner table at night. It could be you have a small group that meets throughout the week. If you see me, share with me your Word.
Growth tip #1: Find one person to speak your 2024 Word of the Year with.
2. Share your Word on a social platform.
Good or bad, right or wrong, most of us live our lives on social media. Come on, we all do it. I’m sure you’ve heard about a relationship becoming “Facebook official”. This is an example of people connecting their hearts with their social media/digital voices. While plenty of things we don’t share with the world, social media is a great place to share your Word of the Year.
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have seen my post for my 2024 Word (yes, I’ve been posting a lot about Word of the Year). Again, this is a way for me to make my Word ‘real’. I connected my heart with my ‘digital mouth’.
Growth tip #2: Share your 2024 Word of the Year on your social media platform of choice.
3. Make your Word prevalent.
Your goal is to believe God will use your Word to help you grow in 2024, so this way of sharing your Word is targeted at yourself. Determine a way to display your 2024 Word of the Year in your home or office.
I have a hobby of screen printing t-shirts. In the past, I’ve made a t-shirt with my Word printed on it. One year I found oversized Scrabble tiles to spell out my Word (VISION in 2014). My friend Todd once carved his word in an axe handle and another year he had his word inscribed on a round washer to hang around his neck.
One lady in my church painted her 2024 Word, KINDNESS, to display in her home, and another lady had her graphic designer son create a piece of art to hang her Word, FLOURISH, on her wall.
It could be as simple as writing your Word on a piece of paper on a scrap of paper to display on your computer screen, bathroom mirror, or refrigerator.
That’s what an acquaintance of mine from the photography world did just this year. Carmen randomly chose the Word TRANSFORM and wrote it on a piece of paper. She had no idea what she was doing when she taped that scrap of paper to the bottom of her computer screen.
Two weeks after she wrote it down her husband of 25 years informed her he was leaving her for another woman. If that wasn’t enough, her father had a stroke not long after, and her mother was diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s. As you can imagine, it put her in a tailspin. But this is what she told me,
“I remember the months of February and March not really wanting to get out of bed, but having to, and in late March I went over to my computer to work on some images and saw my word written on the paper, staring me in the face. I had been numb to the point of no emotion for so many days, but at that point, I sobbed. I cried and cried for everything I felt like I was losing and then I decided I’m not going to let him or the situation beat me.”
That reminder was enough for her to begin transforming her life. Carmen truly began the work of transformation in March of 2023. She changed her diet, became physically active, started a new job, and started opening up to the people around her.
Carmen shared this with me and Kia just a few days ago, and this is what her life looks like now…
“So here we are one year later. I am 70 pounds lighter, off all medications, I sleep without sleeping aids, I am more fit and healthy than ever before. I have reconnected with my sister and my old friends, and I have made valuable new friends…I am a completely different person…sometimes I still don’t recognize the new me. There are times when I walked I saw my shadow and I cried because I didn’t see me in that shadow.”
I had chills. Kia was in tears.
Carmen is changed.
Grow from 1 Word in 1 Year
So, what is your 2024 Word of the Year?
Growth is available to you.
Do you believe?
This week I challenge you to speak your Word with a person, to share your Word on a social media platform, and to make your Word prevalent. Make what you believe in your heart practical with your voice.
Writing Playlist
I don’t know if we have the same taste in music, but here are some songs to explore. All the links go to Spotify. While writing this post, this is some of what I was listening to:
Crowns Down - Gateway Worship + Josh Baldwin
Holy Forever - Chris Tomlin
Without Love - Jonathan Odgen