New Year’s Resolutions

A couple of days ago, we entered into a brand-new year. It’s the start of a new decade. For some, this is a hopeful season. These people are filled to the brim with News Years Resolutions, building new healthy habits, and excited to see what lays ahead. My Facebook feed was filled with people posting about their “Word of the Year” or their “New Year – New Me” selfies. The truth is, the vast majority of these resolutions will be pushed to the back burner before February hits.

The Bible teaches that we should have our priorities aligned in a God-honoring way. The Bible also teaches us that we are to mold our life around certain principals. So New Year’s resolutions in and of themselves are not necessarily a bad thing. However, it can be argued that holding onto them is superfluous since the Bible teaches us how we are to live each and every day. This debate is not a hill to die on. So whether or not you want to create a few New Years Resolutions, there are a few life principals that we can glean from Scripture that we should study at this new dawn of a year.

Contentment and Humility

Phillippians 4:12 “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.”

One of the most difficult lessons in life is realizing that we are not truly independent creatures. We rely on God for everything. God has orchestrated our hearts to pump a set amount of times. He alone determines our next breath. Jonathan Edwards said, “Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ’s sake.”

Humility and Contentment are primary features that should be present in the Believer’s character. It is God alone who gives us what we have and who takes away what we lose. The proud independence that is so predominant in our radical feminist supporting, anti-God culture is antithetical to the Biblical command to pursue contentment and to foster humility. I am not strong out of my own stubbornness and passion – rather, He is strong, and He is able to sustain me (if He so wills,) that I might endure the trial that He has providentially placed before me.

Soli Deo Gloria

Psalm 115:1 “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your Name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness.”

For the glory of God alone. Each and every moment of our life should be spent to give God the glory He deserves. If we are making resolutions, they shouldn’t be made for US – but for Him. While some resolutions may help us develop healthy habits, if we are doing it for our own selves we are engaging in self-idolatry. We should strive to be healthy so that we might serve Him longer. We should strive to have a more organized lifestyle so that we can honor Him in our life by reflecting that He is a God of order.

Every breath we take, every thought we dwell our minds on, every word that comes out of our lips – everything. Everything needs to be for the glory and adoration of Christ and the proclamation that He alone is Lord. If we live our lives with the motto of the Great Reformers in mind, then regardless if our healthy habits filled New Year’s Resolutions fall flat after a few weeks, we can strive to make every moment an act of worship, which is far better than anything else.

Read another article on happiness here: https://strivingforeternity.org/happiness-or-holiness/