Re-thinking New Year's Resolutions
by Abraham Wright
How’s your new year going?
I will confess I am not a fan of new year’s resolutions or goals. It’s not that I think they can’t be helpful because they are for many. I just see the potential trap it could create.
First comes the letdown of not keeping your goal, only to wait until next year to try again. Second, the delay in pursuing something good for you because it’s not quite “January 1” yet.
If you have started a new year’s goal/resolution this year, or you’re thinking of doing so in the future, I want to leave you with a few thoughts.
A. God’s mercies are new every morning.
If or when you mess up, don’t wait a year to try again. Why? God’s mercies are new every morning.
The book of Lamentations is a lament about the deserved judgment of God on His people. But right in the middle of this lament, the author writes this:
“Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).
God doesn’t expect us to wait until next year to try again. Instead, His mercy is “new every morning.” Today is a new day to start again and receive God’s mercy. And tomorrow will be another day to receive the same thing.
B. We are all sinners.
Messing up or missing your goal is called being human. The Bible declares this about all of humanity. Paul writes, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
No matter how much we try and strive toward perfection, it will never happen. Why? Because we are sinners. The word sinner can mean “to miss the mark.” This mark refers to God’s holy standard. This could also include certain marks we create for ourselves that we believe will be good for us. We will miss the mark or not achieve it perfectly because, by definition, we are “mark missers” or “sinners.”
It’s not only that we are all sinners, but also that we can all be forgiven through Jesus. This is what is written after we are declared sinners in Romans 3:23:
“…all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
C. Don’t delay
If you feel you missed your opportunity to make a new year’s goal or resolution, create one now. If it’s good for you, why wouldn’t you seek to apply it to your life today?
Notice how Paul writes about responding to the Gospel:
“As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For He says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).
Paul is urging the Corinthians not to delay in responding to the Gospel. This is why Paul writes “now.”
May God help us respond now to those things that we believe are good for us, which includes the Gospel first and many other things the Spirit may reveal. Don’t delay.
Author Bio
Abraham Wright is a teaching pastor at Council Road and leads the Spiritual Formation Team. He has a master’s degree in Apologetics and is married to Marjorie. They have four children: Trinity, Bailey, Isaac and Jacob.