It is almost as much a tradition to break New Year’s Resolutions as it is to make them! About 80% of New Year’s resolutions don’t survive past February. I remember, several years ago, cleaning out a closet and finding a small journal from probably my middle school days. The very first entry was from January 1 and it read something like, “This year I’m going to make a journal post every day!” That was the first and last entry in the journal! I’ve now accepted that journaling isn’t something that works for me. I’ve also accepted that 90% of the time I do not meet the goals I set. I can think back to one day, yes just one day, last year that I actually accomplished everything on my to do list for that day. The fact is, life doesn’t stop so you can reach your goals. It doesn’t say, “Ok… you know all those interruptions or problems we were going to cause her today, let’s wait until tomorrow.” No, life throws at you random things, whether good or bad. Having goals isn’t a bad thing, but in my experience promising yourself into a corner with unrealistic expectations will likely end in disappointment and discouragement.
There is however, one person who has kept every promise He has ever made since the world began! He is the greatest life coach and offers the best advice to everyone for free. We begin a new calendar year on January 1, but we can begin a new life in Christ at any time. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). You do not have to wait to be “good enough.” Instead Christ calls us to come as we are and be prepared for Him to work in our lives not just until February or even the end of this year but until He comes again! “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 NKJV).
Instead of setting a New Year’s Resolution, make a resolution each morning to begin your new day with Christ. When we fall short of our goals we tend to want to give up, but Jesus, through the apostle Paul, encourages us to not give up even if we have backslid on our goal: “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13b-14 NKJV). Whether you have other goals or not, choosing each day to give your life to Christ is the most important and will give you the greatest satisfaction not only this year but every day of every year to come!