The Green Pastures

Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Matter

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too God will make clear to you.” Philippians 3:13-15

New Year’s Eve is when most people look at where they are and think about where they want to be. They look at what they need to change and resolve to better themselves. Although I am not one to make New Year’s resolutions, I love the attitude to strive for growth that people gain when making them. Even though the resolutions are abandoned only a couple weeks in, I believe we should have the desire for growth every day throughout the year. As Philippians puts it, we must press on to the heavenly prize, pursue spiritual perfection, while forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward. We are to constantly be maturing and growing in the walk of sanctification. Even though sanctification will not be achieved until Heaven, we must have the attitude to strive for it even while we are living on Earth. I have heard before that there is no such thing as being stagnant in the Christian walk. You are either growing toward Christ or drifting away from Him. That is not to say that you are not going to stumble every once in a while, wanting to walk as Christ, but your desire to grow will be tested when you stumble. Will you stay down and fall further, or will you get up and make the effort to change how you are? When it is easier, will you stop walking and get lulled into false comfort, or will you continue to walk with conviction?

Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Last

“I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will continue to perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].” Philippians 1:6

When I hear of people abandoning their New Year’s resolutions, it is often because they messed up and fell back into the habits they were trying to change. Growth in the Christian walk is far too often similar. I saw this a lot when I went to church camps. The last night of camp aways felt like a revival. I would “commit” to breaking off sin in my life; but fast-forward a few weeks, I would be right back where I started. Without fail, I would see it every year and tell my pastor how disappointed I was in myself. The reason I kept failing was because I would slip up one time and it would take me out of that committed attitude. Do not imitate that. When you stumble, and you will, do not use it as an excuse to stumble again. Instead, use it to spur you in your walk with Christ. Know that when you stumble, God does not lose any love for you. He wants you to get back up and try again and again. I read a quote by Edward Welch that I think it encapsulates the struggle of sanctification. “We learn through incessant repetition, practice, and prayer. Sanctification is like taking a clumsy walk rather than flicking a light switch from off to on”. We want to flick a switch and be better, but we must learn that it is the clumsy walk, in which we learn from.

Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Change You

“As iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens [and influences] another [through discussion].” Proverbs 27:17

While we are on our clumsy walk called sanctification in this life, God will be with us the entire way through. He is ultimately the one giving us the power to do it, but He is helping us beyond that. One way is how He puts people in our lives that He’ll use to help us learn needed lessons. I have had many different pastors throughout my lifetime; each one taught me a valuable lesson for the season I was in. Each time one of them left, I was sad and questioned why God would move them out of my life. However, it didn’t take long to see the new lesson God was teaching me through them. Looking back, I see that God was removing and placing people for the specific season I was in. Another way is that God will reveal His Word in new ways. It is an incredible thing, you may be reading something you have read countless times before, but God can still reveal something new in scripture so can grasp it more than ever. I have also noticed that God will often surround me with teachings on what I needed growth in. There have been a few seasons of life when I needed growth in a certain aspect. If you know you are in need of growth but don’t know how or when God is going to produce it, pray. Pray that God will reveal His lesson to you, that He will put people around you to encourage and help. Pray for the heart to grow. If you do that while believing it, I believe you will enter into a thriving and growing season of life.