Why You Should Choose a Theme Verse for 2019

Happy New Year and welcome to the first day of the Daniel Fast! I’m so excited to be taking this 21-day journey with you.

Your first mission, should you choose to accept it involves finding a theme verse for the year (gold star if you got that Mission Impossible reference).

I’ve written before about choosing a bible verse as a theme for my year. Instead of making resolutions that (let’s be honest) will be broken by the end of January, at the beginning of the year I set goals and choose a verse to guide me through the new year.

Why choose a theme verse?

2017, or the dark year as I call it, had me a complete wreck. You know, it was one of THOSE years. That year that has you super ready for it to end just to get a chance for a fresh start. It was the type of year that had me crawling, scratching and scraping to the finish line. It had turned me into a ball of anxious energy.

As I reflected near the end of the year on what needed to change for 2018, it was clear to me that I needed to work on increasing peace in my life. I knew I needed to learn to move in peace instead of anxiety no matter the circumstance. While on Pinterest, I ran across the concept of selecting a theme verse for the year. What better way to increase peace in my life then choosing a theme verse for the year about it? I went in search of bible verses focused on peace. I found many but the one that stood out the most was Isaiah 26:3.

God, you will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you.

Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)

This one verse shifted my entire perspective in 2018. I went from seeing everything through the lens of stress and anxiety to having assurance that as long as I kept my mind stayed on Jesus (as the old-timers say) and trusted in Him, everything would be all good.

Any time I started to stress, I repeated that verse. Every time I didn’t know what to do or someone or something took me to a negative place, I repeated that verse. When my entire department got laid off in March. I had a supernatural type of peace because I had ingrained this verse on my mind and heart. I’m telling you, it works because words have power. Especially His words. Why not use them to heal you?

We all have areas in our life where we desire growth. We have things we know need to change for us to move forward into who God has truly called us to be. It’s often these areas that plague us most causing undue stress and sleepless nights. We need God’s help in order to be consistent in our work to improve them. Just like a mantra, a theme verse becomes you daily statement or slogan to keep you focused. To bring you back into alignment. To grow, strengthen and heal you.

How to choose a theme verse?

Reflect on 2018. What were some of the things you really struggled with. What are areas that you know you need to grow? Maybe you need to increase peace like me. Or maybe you need to learn to trust Him more. Maybe your faith has been broken down and your spirit crushed by what you been through last year. Maybe you don’t know where to start. Talk to God. Ask Him what He wants you to focus on in 2019. You’ll know what you need. Trust your gut and trust Him (message!).

Once you’ve got that, get your bible app and search for your theme. Literally all you have to do is type your topic into the search box and you’ll see verses that match (living in the digital age can be a beautiful thing!). Depending on your theme, there could be several verses to choose from. See which verse stands out the most to you. It can take some time to find one that feels right. As you can imagine, there were many verses to pick from for last year’s theme of peace. I read through them all a few times before settling on Isaiah 26:3.

One tip that helped me is to look at a few different translations of the verse. Seeing the verse in different translations helped me make my final selection. I think it was because each translation spoke to me so beautifully about peace. All translations felt right.

Side bar: Some of my go-to translations are NIV (New International Version) and NLT (New Living Translation). My favorite translation though is the ERV (Easy-to-Read Version). Shout out to my beautiful Mother-In-Law for schooling me on that version a few years ago. I love it because it breaks the bible down in plain, basic language (no thus sayeth and thou dost).

Now all you’ve got to do is apply it to your daily life. Whether that’s writing it on a post-it and sticking it on your bathroom mirror, highlighting it in your bible app, or keeping it in your wallet make sure it’s readily available and use it as often as you need to. Let it set the tone for your new year. Let it make you a better you.

Thank you so much for reading this! If you’ve chosen a theme verse for the year. Please write it in the comments below. If your comfortable, also share why you chose the verse. It could be helpful to someone trying to find their theme verse!