Has God placed a special word on your heart for 2025?
Have you ever picked a word to focus on each year?
Instead of making resolutions, I choose a word that sums up who I want to be or how I want to live. I have participated in this One Word Challenge for over ten years now.
This year, my word for 2025 is Simplify!

I want to simplify so I can live with purpose!
I have discovered that I waste a lot of time managing extra items in my home as well as the overthinking in my mind. Can you relate?
Maybe like me, you struggle with what to make for dinner or how to keep up with the endless emails that fill your inbox. Or maybe you wish you had more time to spend with loved ones, exercise, or read a good book. If we are honest, our days are filled with busy and sometimes we don’t get to these great, purposeful ideas.
What if this is the year to flip the script?
What if we can intentionally slow down and simplify, so we can live purposeful in the areas God is calling us?
Here are just a few ideas I recently heard that I am going to try: Have 2-3 weeks of favorite meals and rotate them. Can you imagine how amazing it will feel when the daunting question, “What is for dinner?” can be easily answered with your meal planning? I don’t know about you, but I already feel a weight being lifted.
Add to that, decluttering extra items in our homes and freeing up space in our minds, and just imagine how God can use that time for His divine appointments as well as loving on those most important in our lives.
I want to make the best use of my time. This is the verse I am focusing on: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV)
What roles do you have in 2025?
My mentor always encourages me to list out my roles and determine which ones need to be a priority for this season. (To hear more about this, check out Depth Podcast Episode 203: Embracing Your Roles that I recorded last year)
As I look ahead, my “mom of a senior in high school” role needs top priority. He will be graduating in six months and then heading to college after summer, so I want to be present with him and super engaged for his last year at home. By simplifying in other areas, I am hoping to have more time to be intentional with him.
My role as a daughter has become a more significant one as my parents are aging and need me more than before. I treasure my time with them and want to make it a priority this next year. I want to be available and even interruptible when they need me at the last minute. If I am scheduled to the brim, I don’t have the extra time to be present when I want to be.
It is essential that we don’t try to live at full capacity
Instead, it is important to have margin in our lives, so we can live with purpose. I am simplifying where I can, so I can add some time back to my days and live with intentionality!
That is my goal for 2025! To simplify, so I can live purposefully!

One of my favorite traditions in the New Year is to go to the beach and write my word(s) in the sand with my college roommate! We pray over our words and ask for God’s guidance for the New Year! I highly recommend doing something purposeful with your word!
Has God placed a special word on your heart for 2025?
I want to encourage you to choose a word for next year. Where does God want you to focus?
I would love to hear your word and why you chose it, so please share in the comments below.
Love, Jodi
Note: If you want to hear more about picking a word for the year, I did a podcast episode: Check out Depth Podcast Episode 157 called One Word.
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