The One Resolution

We’re going into a new year, and every year around this time, the topic of new year’s resolutions comes up. Lots of people go through the process of making promises to themselves and others about things they are going to change about themselves or in their lives. These resolutions are often made with the best intentions, but intent is only part of any action taken. Execution is important too, and that’s where most resolutions fall short. It has actually become a cliché nowadays. If you need proof, just go to your local fitness center right now. No matter which one you choose, it’s bound to be full of people striving vigorously to get into shape. Now visit that same center a couple weeks later, and you’ll be almost guaranteed to see a major drop-off in the number of people there.

The problem isn’t with resolutions as a concept. Self-improvement is a good thing. There is nothing at all wrong with wanting to start a new year with a decision to do better. The problem is that the resolution is the goal, and so many make it without considering what it will take to get to that goal. What people often fail to acknowledge is that sacrifice is something that often goes hand in hand with the resolution. If you resolve to lose weight, you’re going to have to give up your time to exercise and cut out some of the bad foods you eat. If you want to stop drinking so much, you may have to give up some of your preferred recreational activities. You plan to reduce conflict in your life? You will probably have to walk away from some of the people that bring that conflict to your life. Making a resolution is easy and we often sincerely want to reach the goal, but when faced with the sacrifices that the goal requires, we find ourselves backing away and the issues we want to fix go unresolved.

Christians are no exception to this pattern of behavior. For us, it often isn’t even limited to the new year’s season. The more we dive into the Faith and the more we see how our lives don’t meet up with what we perceive to be Christian expectations, the more we believe we need to change. Change, after all, is an integral part of coming to Christ.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. - 2 Corinthians 5:17

The change doesn’t necessarily happen instantaneously, but if we truly invite Jesus into our lives, there should be a transition away from the sin of our old lives. Unfortunately, many of us get caught in the same trappings as those who make new year’s resolutions. We know what we should do, but when it comes time to do it, we fall flat. The sacrifices needed to change seem to be too much.  The reason for this is that we make it about ourselves. That probably sounds strange. If there is one thing that we should be able to make about ourselves, self-improvement should be it. However, there's the rub. Once we become followers of Christ, nothing is truly all about us, not even things that relate solely to us. When we choose to follow Jesus, that means putting him at the head of our lives, not just when we are serving Him or helping others, but also when we are making changes to ourselves. The truth is that if we want to make lasting change, we can’t change ourselves. We have to let God change us. It’s just as God foretold to the Israelites.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. - Ezekiel 36:26-27

God was clearly telling the Israelites that he would be the one to move people towards righteous lives. At the time God said that, Jesus had not yet come to the Earth as a human and died.  The Holy Spirit had not yet come to live within believers. God was essentially giving a preview of things to come. Thankfully, for us, the Holy Spirit is now available for all who believe. It is through the Holy Spirit, not our own actions, that we become what we are meant to be.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:18

When we accept Christ and receive the Spirit, we gain the ability to do whatever it is that we need to do. We don’t need to make resolutions. We need only follow His lead and we will accomplish the goals we set if they are of God. It’s not that the Holy Spirit removes the need for sacrifices or the difficulties associated with making change. Those things are there for us just as they are for the people making new year’s resolutions. The difference is that we aren’t alone when we have to contend with those things. We have a helper that never lets us down.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13

With God on our side, making changes won’t necessarily be easy, but they will become inevitable because He won’t let us fail. So why not involve God in everything we do? Philippians 4:13 is an often quoted verse:

I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

Too often that verse is presented as meaning “I can do anything if God is giving me strength.” While that’s certainly true, it is probably more accurate to take the verse as saying “I can do everything with God strengthening me.” If we think like that and strive to tackle everything we face with God providing the power, then there is nothing that we won’t be able to achieve. So if there is a resolution we need to make, maybe it is that we will always strive to put our faith and confidence in God no matter what the objective is that we are attempting. That’s a resolution we can hold onto whether we’re entrenched in the middle of a year or walking into a new one.

Chris Lawyer

Image Courtesy of forbes.com