Gospel Habits for a New Year

How committing to daily gospel habits positions you for extraordinary encounters

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope you are enjoying the end of year celebrations and remembered last weeks challenge to spread joy!

Thank you for all your support and feedback this year! I’ve enjoyed getting back into writing and am looking forward to sharing some new projects I’m working on in the new year.

As we approach the New Year I wanted to share a story of how committing to daily gospel habits positions you for extraordinary encounters. Here we go…

Equip

The Resolution

After a little while in Bible College I began to get annoyed of how I was constantly surrounded by Christians.

Part of going to The Salvation Army Training College meant that you lived on site while you studied. Don’t get me wrong, I loved being able to hang out with my like-minded friends all the time, but I felt like I wasn’t sharing the gospel enough.

So I made a commitment to myself to “Share the gospel every day.”

This resolution made me change the way I lived each day. I would get up and think about who I was going to share the good news with.

Some days were great when I had lots of opportunities… Other days were far harder.

I made a prayer list of who I was praying for, then some days I would give those people a call, or send them a message

I found ways to make it easy on myself on the days where I knew I would be kept in class all day.

I would search for people on social media who had included #depressed in their posts, and I would share my story of how Jesus set me free.

I would share the gospel with the people serving me at the shops, the petrol station, or with those I passed by as I went for a walk.

But there were also hard days when I got so busy that I would wind up in bed at the end of the day and would have totally forgotten about my resolution.

The Tram Stop

On one such night I went to bed and as I prayed I realised it had been a few days since I had shared the gospel. Unsatisfied with that, and feeling a little convicted I jumped out of bed, got dressed and walked outside.

As I walked along, I saw a tram passing by and one man getting off. I thought, “That’s my guy!” So I walked a bit quicker so I would “bump” into him as he crossed the road.

As I approached him I said, “Excuse me sir! This is going to sound strange but I felt like God wanted me to share something with you tonight…”

The man stopped still in his tracks so I continued with something along these lines,

“Jesus loves you! He wants to give you life and life in all its fullness.”

I quickly explained the story of Jesus to him and that’s when he said something that has impacted me ever since…

“Wow! I’ve just come home from work and you are the third person to say that to me today! I think God is trying to get my attention!”

On the side of the road in front of the tram stop we prayed together as he accepted the invitation of eternal life/knowing Jesus!

Activate

The Third Person

Making a resolution to share the gospel every day is a scary prospect. There is no doubt that it can get very tough when you feel like you have no time and no one to speak to. It definitely has moments where it feels impractical!

However, setting a resolution like this does three things,

• It makes you see the opportunities that are right in front of you (remember, Jesus said the harvest is ripe!)

• It sparks creativity in finding people to share the gospel with and how to share it with them in a way that feels right to you

• It positions you to partner with the God who is already at work (just like when I met the man at the tram stop.)

As we step into the New Year I wonder if you would consider becoming a “Third Person?” The person who is willing to put themselves out there, and share the gospel every day in 2026?

It will lead you into scary territory, it will lead you down a path of creativity, and you will be amazed at how you get to partner with God! Consider if sharing the gospel every day in 2026 is a habit that God is asking you to commit to.

And if 12 months seems too long, or not quite right for you, then why not consider one of the following other habits that will position you as a disciple maker in 2026:

• Share the gospel every day in the lead up to Easter

• Make a Prayer list of people to come to know Jesus and pray through it every day

• Read a Jesus story every day

• Say “Thank you and Jesus loves you” to the salesperson every time you pay

• Every day/week ask people a question to go deeper like, “How’s your soul?”

• Pray the Palms Prayer every day (see here for more)

• Spend an hour a week sharing the gospel

• No food until spiritually eaten (Don’t eat until you’ve read scripture)

• Fast one or two days per week

• Share your one liner every day, “Stay close to Jesus!”, “God sees you and loves you!” “God made you amazing!”

As you think about New Years resolutions and what you want 2026 to look like, I encourage you to commit to a gospel habit that will impact your Disciple Making.

Happy New Year!
Let’s Go!