How to Have Your Best Month From the Inside Out
A good month can hold more than good circumstances. Let Christ shape your prayer, gratitude, and love through whatever the next thirty days bring.
#5 — Best Month Ever
Feb 4, 2019
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Who gets to decide whether this month is good?
When we call a month wonderful, we usually start with what happened to us. Perhaps work went well, a family celebration brought joy, a long-awaited trip finally happened, or an unexpected financial blessing relieved pressure. Those things are worth enjoying. But they share one important characteristic: much of their arrival depends upon circumstances we can't control.
But what if the next month doesn't bring the things we'd hoped for? What if work becomes more demanding, travel plans collapse, or someone we love suffers? If our definition of a good month depends entirely on favorable events, the quality of our lives is handed over to forces beyond our control. We begin waiting for life to treat us well before we believe that life can be meaningful.
Following Jesus gives us more to build on. A month may contain grief and still become a season of spiritual growth. A difficult period can lead us to pray more honestly, appreciate people more deeply, and understand the Lord's promises more clearly. We should never pretend that suffering itself is pleasant. Yet the circumstances we endure aren't the only things that can shape the significance of the days we live.
Paul's joy did not depend on comfortable circumstances
Paul writes about joy in Philippians while his own freedom is restricted. He isn't writing from an ideal setting in which every desired outcome has already arrived. He faces uncertainty, opposition, and the possibility of death. Yet his attention consistently returns to Christ and the advance of the gospel.
In Philippians 1:12–18, he notices how the gospel is advancing even through his hardship. He doesn't claim that confinement is enjoyable or that every motive around him is pure. He evaluates what is happening through the larger purpose of making Christ known. That perspective doesn't erase hardship, but it prevents hardship from having the final word about his situation.
In Philippians 4:11–13, Paul says he has learned contentment in both need and abundance. He can endure because Christ strengthens him. The familiar statement that he can do all things through Christ isn't a promise of unlimited personal achievement. In context, it concerns faithfulness and contentment whether circumstances are favorable or difficult.
Paul doesn't wait for life to become comfortable before finding strength in Christ. His strength isn't rooted in pretending he can control events. It is rooted in his relationship with the Lord.
What comes first changes the way you see the day
Think about the difference between wanting an easy day and wanting to follow Jesus through the day. When comfort is central, every inconvenience feels like an attack on our expectations. When faithfulness is central, inconvenience is still inconvenient, but it doesn't necessarily prevent the day from having meaning.
A hard conversation at work can show the difference. If the only objective is to feel appreciated, the encounter may ruin the afternoon. But if the person is striving to practice patience, honesty, and kindness, the encounter becomes an opportunity to act according to conviction. The other person's behavior remains outside our control, while our response becomes a place for growth.
That doesn't mean we should scold someone for being sad. Scripture contains laments and acknowledges genuine distress. A Christian can grieve, seek help, and still trust the Lord. The point is that our emotions and circumstances don't have to become the sole authorities determining what we do next.
Galatians 3:27 describes those baptized into Christ as having put on Christ. The image points to identity and belonging, not a literal formula for creating a positive mood. If we belong to Christ, that relationship should shape the choices we make regardless of how the month unfolds.
Give your attention to what helps you grow
What we keep giving our attention to will affect us. We can spend hours rehearsing disappointments, comparing ourselves with others, or following arguments that produce little wisdom. We can also spend meaningful time in Scripture, prayer, reflection, and relationships that strengthen what is good.
Choose a book of the Bible and spend some unhurried time with it. The Gospel of Mark, for example, repeatedly draws attention to Jesus' authority, compassion, and service. Reading it attentively can shift the focus from our own performance toward the Lord we follow. Philippians can remind us that joy, humility, and perseverance are possible even amid hardship.
Read to understand and respond, rather than just to finish. Notice what Jesus does and why it matters. Write down questions that deserve study. Consider what the passage reveals about the priorities that govern your life. Then allow the truth to inform your conduct.
Talk to God about what you're reading and living. Praise God for His character before moving to the needs of the day. Thank Him for what remains good. Bring the things that trouble you before Him honestly. Spiritual formation isn't merely choosing more cheerful thoughts. It is learning to interpret life in light of what God has revealed.
Let gratitude live alongside disappointment
We can be deeply thankful and deeply sad at the same time. A family may be thankful for the love and support surrounding an illness while deeply wishing that the illness weren't present. A person may appreciate a job while finding certain responsibilities exhausting. A Christian may rejoice in the hope of resurrection while mourning a death.
In Philippians 4:4, Paul calls us to rejoice in the Lord. We shouldn't reduce those instructions to a command to smile regardless of circumstances. They invite believers to bring genuine concerns before God and to remember truths that remain worthy of trust.
Practice noticing the good without pretending the painful things are good. Each evening, identify something for which you can give thanks. It may be a person who helped, an opportunity to serve, a passage that strengthened faith, or the simple provision of another day. Don't force a positive interpretation onto every painful event. Give thanks for what is truly good.
Thankfulness can help us see more of the month than its hardest moments. The difficult part may still need tears, prayer, and help. Yet someone may also have shown you kindness, or a passage may have strengthened you. Notice those gifts without asking them to make the hurt unreal.
Your growing faith should affect your relationships
If we're growing closer to Christ, the people around us ought to benefit. We can't claim that spiritual growth is thriving while continually treating the people nearest us with indifference. If Scripture teaches patience, the lesson should matter when family members interrupt our plans. If prayer reminds us of divine mercy, that mercy should challenge the harshness of our judgments.
Suppose the month hasn't gone the way you planned. That disappointment can spill into conversation, making an ordinary household feel tense. But when the person remembers that success isn't defined entirely by completed goals, there may be greater freedom to listen, encourage, and enjoy the people present.
A changed attitude won't answer every problem in a relationship. Some difficulties require honest confrontation, repentance, counseling, or protective boundaries. But Christ-centered thinking should make us more attentive to what we contribute to the relationships around us.
Ask where love is becoming visible in your conduct. Have you become more willing to apologize? More patient with another person's limitations? More generous with your time? More thoughtful about whom your words may encourage or hurt? An inwardly meaningful month will often become visible in the ordinary conduct of love.
Set goals that remain meaningful under pressure
Go ahead and plan things you're looking forward to. We may hope to accomplish important work, spend time with family, and experience things that bring delight. But our deepest goals should remain meaningful even when the schedule changes.
Some of the most important purposes can still guide us when those plans change. A goal to become more loving can shape the way we respond when another person is difficult. A goal to serve faithfully can find expression in small acts of kindness when major plans are interrupted.
Give yourself room to recognize real limits. People have real limitations, and some seasons require rest and support rather than additional demands. A wise plan recognizes the duties and resources available now. It also leaves room to change methods while preserving worthwhile purposes.
Choose one area of spiritual growth to give attention to this coming month. Perhaps you need to cultivate gratitude, study a passage more carefully, or address a pattern of impatience. Choose an action you can practice without demanding perfect circumstances.
Let Christ guide the month ahead
We don't know everything the next thirty days will hold. Some will be joyful, some routine, and some painful. We can, however, decide where we will seek wisdom, what truth we will cherish, and how we intend to respond to people.
Let Scripture, prayer, and the example of Jesus have a place in each week. Pray with honesty and thanksgiving. Notice opportunities to practice the character of Jesus. When hardship comes, allow yourself to grieve and receive help. When blessings come, receive them gratefully without assuming they are the only measure of God's goodness.
You may have a wonderful month without having a remarkable story to tell about it. It may instead be a month in which you become more patient, more prayerful, more attentive to Scripture, and more willing to love. Those changes can remain valuable when the calendar turns.
A month can matter deeply because you learned to follow Christ more faithfully through it. It may be one in which your life becomes more faithfully centered on Christ and that allegiance changes the way you live.
Take the idea with you.
- 01How have I been defining whether a month is good or bad?
- 02What passage could help me center my thoughts on Christ during difficult days?
- 03Which inner change would make the greatest difference to the people around me?
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