January has a reputation problem.
For some of us, it arrives buzzing with motivation and color-coded plans. For others, it shows up quietly—heavy with exhaustion, undone lists, and the faint sense that we’re already behind. If that’s you, take a breath. You’re not doing January wrong.
Wherever you're at in your January journey, we're certain of one thing: It's loud. The Planet Fitness ads are coming at you from everywhere. Every one of your coworkers has a new planner and a new 7 point plan for growth in the new year. Sally down the street has already meal prepped and stocked her freezer for the next 6 months. (She's so happy to share the recipes with you.) And every influencer known to man has a perfectly curated video compilation of the previous year with 38,000 life tips for making the next one your best year yet! (Link in bio!)
At GoodKind, we'd simply like to turn down the volume. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about how faith actually forms—not through pressure or perfection, but through practice, presence, and grace. And when it comes to the beginning of the year, we believe this deeply: January isn’t broken. It’s just slower than we expect it to be.
Why January Often Feels Hard
Culturally, January is treated like a launchpad. New year, new you, new habits—go. But most of us are coming into January tired. December is full and meaningful and beautiful, but it’s also loud. By the time the calendar flips, our bodies and souls are often asking for rest, not reinvention.
That’s why, on The GoodKind Podcast, we’ve talked about January as a season for reflection before resolution—a time to notice where we’ve been before deciding where we’re going. (If you’ve listened to “The Gray Days: Why January Isn’t for Resolutions (and What It Is For)”, this may sound familiar.)
January doesn’t demand urgency. It invites honesty.
Faith Is Formed Through Practice, Not Pressure
One of the most freeing truths we return to again and again is this: spiritual growth happens slowly. It’s shaped by small, repeated practices over time—not by big emotional moments or perfectly executed plans.
When we talk about spiritual habits, we’re not talking about adding pressure to your life. We’re talking about creating gentle rhythms that make it easier to notice God in the ordinary. One small prayer. One moment of stillness. One repeated cue that turns your heart toward Him.
Easy doesn’t mean shallow. Small doesn’t mean insignificant. In fact, the smallest habits often become the deepest roots.
Let Your Environment Help You
One reason habits feel hard is that we expect ourselves to remember and initiate everything on our own. But what if your space could help?
Simple, tangible cues—a candle lit before prayer, a Bible left open on a table, a chalkboard with prayer requests—can quietly invite faith into your day without demanding more effort. These aren’t elaborate systems. They’re small helps that lower the barrier to beginning.
Over time, those cues become familiar. Comforting. Formative.
God Works in Seasons, Not Sprints
Scripture reminds us that there is a season for everything. And most seasons don’t announce themselves with fireworks. They unfold gradually. Quietly.
January is often a threshold season—a transition between what was and what will be. Instead of rushing through it, we can choose to mark it, to notice what God might be doing now, not just what we hope He’ll do later.
Faith grows when we stay present to the season we’re actually in—when we pay attention to the ordinary, when we lean into the rhythms of the days before us, and when we allow God’s timing, not our urgency, to guide our steps. Presence is the soil in which faith takes root. Awareness is the water that helps it grow.
A Gentle Way Forward
If you’re feeling unsure how to begin this year, here’s a pathway we suggest. It's not a to-do list. It's a framework for thinking about growth through a lens of grace, remembering that ultimately, "He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it."
-
Reflect before you resolve. Take several weeks to look back on your habits over the past year and where it's led you to. Consider thoughtfully where you want to go, before you start moving in any particular direction. Ask God what he has for you, and be patient as you listen for his answer.
-
Start smaller than you think you should. Like, way smaller. So small it feels foolish. Think about it this way, it would be foolish to set a daily goal of doing yoga for 30 minutes every day if you currently don't have a routine established. But make your goal a single downward dog for 30 seconds each day, and you might be on to something. The easier you make the habit, the higher your chances are of actually seeing it through, and eventually, building upon it.
-
Choose practices that fit your current season. Be honest with yourself about the season you're in—that might mean the actual season (who is starting something new December 15?!) or the season of life. If you have young children who frequently wake at night, it might not be the time for an early morning, hour long devotion time. Find habits that work for you, and if they don't rework them to fit your current, very real, life.
-
Let grace, not guilt, set the pace. Here's the thing. We sometimes wish there was a "rule book" for Christianity. Something that lays out the practical, every-day requirements for 21st century life. But there's not. If that's ever been a frustration for you, try looking at it as a freedom instead. There isn't a quota you you have to fulfill for prayers each week, verses read per day, or anything else for that matter. There's no scorecard to your faith. There's simply a God who invites you to return to him, again, and again, and again, no matter now many times we have to reset and restart. He's waiting with open arms, and his patience is unending.
January doesn’t need to be loud, and it doesn’t need to be fast.
It is the season you are in—a time where faith takes root quietly, presence carries more weight than perfection, and grace moves steadily through each day.