My Word for 2025
Hello friends! I have received my word for 2025. For those of you who don't know what I mean by 'my word' here's a little context and backstory:
For the past four years, near the beginning of the year, I have been praying and asking God for a word. You could call this word a landmark, something that I can keep coming back to to reflect on throughout the year. My first ever word was in 2021 - 'surrender'. Funny enough, I ended up surrendering a lot to Christ that year.
My second word, for 2022, was 'rebirth'. That one was confusing, as I had already been a Christian for years and therefore had been born again, but then, I gleaned exactly what He meant by it. One of the definitions for rebirth is this: {Rebirth: a period of new life, growth, or activity; a revival}. Call it a coincidence, but my faith ended up skyrocketing that year. The new growth was undeniable.
In 2023, the word was 'acceptance', which revealed itself in the way you'd expect, the letting go of things I couldn't change, but even more so in this definition of the word: {Acceptance: the actions of consenting to receive or undertake something being offered}. Acceptance was an invitation to receive goodness from God, to EXPECT it even, instead of jumping to 'worse case scenarios' like I had been prone to do. It was God reshaping my brain to instantly trust Him.
Then, my word for last year was 'understanding'. That one was a doozy. Yes, I did grow in my knowledge of God, His ways, and His word as expected. And yes, a new level of much needed discernment was unlocked (in fact I think that is a spiritual gift I picked up this past year). But what threw me for a loop was the deeper life understandings that God revealed to me that forever changed what I knew to be true. God broke some false concepts in my mind during a time when the first trimester of pregnancy was 'rocking my world' - in the good and bad sense of the term. I now know though, that this was exactly what I needed during a time when I was forced to let myself rest.
These last four years have shown me that God knows what He is doing when He gives me 'my word of the year' and they have always summed up the year in ways that I could never imagine or guess beforehand.
Now onto my new word for this new year - 'delight'. When God gave me this word, I became awe-struck... well not at first. Let me explain, at first I felt almost undeserving of this word. Surely He didn't mean this one. Hadn't He given me enough already when He gave me the precious gift of pregnancy after almost 8 years of infertility? Maybe somehow, I had heard Him wrong. But then, I heard very clearly something He has once told me on a beach in Japan that practically brought me back to that very moment.
I had been sitting, staring into the clear water at some fish at play, chasing each other around and around. I couldn't help but smile, when suddenly, the Lord whispered, "I delight in bringing you delight." This is where the awe overfilled me. The Lord truly delights in us, guys. Despite our short-comings and our messes - HE DELIGHTS in bringing US delight. The sudden rush of the love of the Father, however small the amount that my mind can actually comprehend, was so deepening.
Now, let's do one of my favorite things - defining words I already know, specifically, my new word. This word is special because it can be a verb or a noun. Let's look over some definitions that come from a quick Google search:
(verb) to please (someone) greatly.
(verb) to take great pleasure in.
(noun) great pleasure.
(noun) a cause or source of great pleasure.
Google also says that 'delight' comes from the Latin word 'delectare' meaning 'to charm'. It also mentions that the '-gh' was added later in the 16th century by association with light.
Wow! Delight is associated with the word light! So much so that it influenced it's spelling! I can't help but think of all the verses sporting the word 'light' - especially Matthew 5:14 (ESV): "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." Maybe this will be a sweet reminder this year to "...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 5:16 ESV)
Usually, I would really dig into these Google definitions, but this time, I would much rather go into the Hebrew definition of my word as found in my Strong's Concordance. I feel like these definitions are more where God is leading me with this word.
When it comes to looking up things in a concordance, for me, it's easiest to start with a verse where the word I want to define is found, and then, I make sure that the Hebrew word is the one most commonly used in place of the English one. I prayed and asked God for the verse that He wanted me to start with. He gave me Psalm 37:4 (KJV - since that's the translation my concordance uses):
"Delight thyself also in the Lord: and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
This verse led me to Strong's # 6026, which is the Hebrew word 'ânag (aw-nag) and the one most commonly used in place of our English word 'delight'. God sure knew what He was doing! Now, here are our definitions:
to be soft or pliable
Immediately after reading this definition, I knew this would pertain to me in the matter of my heart. After all, it is much easier for God to reach me when my heart is soft. I also want to be pliable overall - to be willing to do the things that God wants me to do. This reminds me of a quote by Jon Bloom that uses my word 'delight': "Whatever it takes, Lord, increase my delight in You as the greatest treasure of my heart." I want to be able to do whatever it takes to truly delight in God, in a similar, though human, version of how He delights in me. I don't want to delight in the Lord only on the bases that He will give me my desires. No, this is not intended for selfish reasons, but for the sake of pure joy and bringing Him glory. I want my heart to ultimately be in the right place.
delicate (-ness)
I didn't know what to make of this definition at first, that is until I enlisted Google's help again: {Delicate: very fine in texture or structure; of intricate workmanship or quality.} Now, I may be looking too much into this, but upon reading 'of intricate workmanship or quality', Psalm 139:13-14 (ESV) immediately popped into my head:
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
This verse has been especially meaningful lately with God currently knitting my own son together (I've come to call my body 'His knitting womb ('womb' being a play on words with 'room' - it's silly, I know). But I honestly don't think there is any coincidence there. After all, He has intended unusual definitions for other words in my past, so why not with this one? Again, it could be a stretch or it could be God's intended meaning for me to dwell on here.
(have) delight (self)
God didn't wonderfully make me and intricately knit me together to be negative about life, but despite the suffering this life brings, I am meant to have joy and I am meant to find joy (delight) in HIM!
sport self
Here I had to ask Google once more. "What does it mean to 'sport self'? This was the answer: "to amuse oneself, frolic, or speak and act in fun". Frolic really stuck out to me here. I could imagine myself frolicking in a field of flowers, enjoying the beauty He has made, and taking time to smell them. This reminds me of what He has been having me reflect on recently - time, and the passing of it. Recently, I decided that I want to use my time in the way He intended me to. I want to have joy and bring Him glory.
In light of all these definitions, and at a first glance of my new word, I have come to realize that 'delight' isn't about my personal happiness. No indeed. It's about growth through moments. It's about taking time to smell the flowers. It's about enjoying the time God has given me here on earth in a way that exalts Him. It's about being thankful that He has knitted me. It's about wearing the garment of praise in every situation, yes - even the less than delightful ones. It's about delighting in my Creator, my Abba, my Everything.
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