I think it's safe to say that 2017 was a year filled with a lot of change, for a lot of people. Some of it was not the best, and some of it actually had a great effect on people. 2017 was filled with a lot of tragedy and heartache as if we just kept taking hit after hit. But the beauty of difficult situations, was that people rallied together and we got to see people have hope, and we got to see how that changed everything.

While 2017 was definitely a rough year, to me, it gave me hope for what we will get to see one day. I think especially as Christians, we learned a lot in the year 2017, and I think we could apply so much of the wisdom we gained and the truth we learned from making mistakes.

Jesus didn't wait until someone asked Him to do something, He always acted out of love, and did so without hesitation. Modeling our new year after His heart is one of the wisest things I think we could do.

1. Christians seeking out the hurting.

With all the tragedies from all of the hurricanes, the violent shootings, having a new president- there was a lot of fear and hurting in this last year. Jesus intentionally sought out the hurting, despite it being uncomfortable or hard, but He just simply loved them, and this all made the world of difference.

I think we as Christians should take time out of our busy schedules and seek out those that are really hurting, and live out Acts 2:42-47 with them. Helping them with any financial needs, any physical need, or a broken family that needs some extra encouragement, love, and affirmation.

We got a great glimpse of this due to all the tragedies, but there are daily tragedies that occur right in front of us; we just have to choose to see and take action.

2. Christians loving the broken.

Alright, I don't know where the misinterpretation of the Bible happened, but Jesus had dinner with the tax collectors and prostitutes, who were the people everyone looked down upon and ran from. I don't think anywhere in the Bible does it say "only hang out with people that are like you."

Now, don't get me wrong, I think community is a beautiful thing, and that's why we have the church, but community should consistently bring others in. Jesus wasn't cliquish. Jesus wasn't exclusive.

Jesus didn't flinch when His friends cussed in front of His believer friends. Jesus didn't tell them to change. He loved them, which then brought on the change. I just want to dwell on this one for a second, that people are NOT problems to fix. Your "little" lie is just as equal to someone getting drunk.

Sin is sin.

Jesus loves us despite our sin, so we should model our lives off of that love. Even leadership, I understand being busy, but I believe it makes the world of difference to see leadership loving on the broken, because nowhere in our position are we, or should we ever be, too busy to love others. Broken pieces have sharp, jagged edges, and sometimes it's not pretty, but we've also had those edges, too, and Jesus didn't hesitate for a second to love us.

3. Christians should look at others how God sees them.

I'm all for leadership and training people how to lead and equipping others with that truth, but if we are only loving those that have "potential," then I think we are really limiting what God can do. As man, we don't always see what God sees. The little timid girl could be a bold, and fearless leader, but if we don't ever take the time to encourage her or love her, then we could really be missing out on getting to help someone step into their full potential.

Humility is something we should daily choose, and encourage amongst others, because if we have pride in the body of Christ then we could miss an opportunity to let God use us.

4. Christians should love, expecting nothing in return.

We are a society that tends to do things for others, whenever we can get something in return, and for this, our love will always fall short, and our love will get easily annoyed and frustrated. Everything we volunteer for or say yes to, we need to be giving our whole hearts into loving Jesus and loving people - even if it won't get us that job promotion, or the person we are going to love doesn't appreciate it.

If we are doing something for the approval of others, we are going to get burnt out really quick. As Christians, we are called to lay our lives down, even if it's kind of ugly, kind of messy, and to be completely honest, even if it sucks. Our desire should be to share the truth of who Jesus is with everyone, and that truth should be intricately wound into every single of our actions and words.

Now, none of this article is intended to make anyone feel bad, but I do believe that every single thing that happened in 2017 we were intended to learn from.

We should radically love Jesus and love others, and if we give it our all, I can promise the outcome is going to be so sweet, and so beautiful. Jesus rescued us because He loved us so deeply, and I think that's some news that should never cease to inspire us every single day of 2018.