I've tried year after year to make resolutions. I suppose making them in itself is not a bad thing.
But have you noticed how few of them you follow through with? I rarely keep any past the end of January.
So, I was thinking that maybe resolutions don't work because we just sort of make them without making ourselves accountable to anyone but ourselves to keep them. I don't know about you, but I think that's recipe for failure from the start. It's as if we've left out some of the ingredients to a wonderful dish and it doesn't come out like we remembered it should.
My suggestions are simple. If you intend to lose weight, go to church, go back to school, clean the house, paint that room, read your Bible more or anymore of a thousand different resolutions, find someone to be accountable to and don't get mad at them when they try to hold you to your resolutions. Be sure to find someone who won't go down easy. Find someone more stubborn than you, if that be possible, it will be difficult in my case. But you and this someone should come up with a plan to hold you accountable to your resolutions. Some way for them to check to make sure you're holding up your end of the deal.
1. Prayer: pray together about your resolution daily, weekly or anytime you feel weak and are about to fail. You could even ask additional prayer warriors to help in this area.
2. Make sure your resolution is not self centered.
You may ask how can my losing weight not be self centered? Well when you change your focus on why you want to lose weight. What's your reason. Well, you might say, "I want to lose weight to be healthier." Great, but to what end? Do you just want to be healthy, sure everyone does. But, what if your final reason was to serve Christ more fully. To be healthy enough to go on a mission trip, or to help out in VBS, or just feel like doing something for God other than asking for something for yourself all the time. How can I change my focus? It all goes back to prayer. You CAN NOT do this on your own. Believe me, I've tried and so have many others! Doing "IT" on your own is dooming yourself to fail!
I want to read my Bible more. Great to what end? Just to gain knowledge? How about to be prepared to give an account to anyone who asks or you meet?
I want to go to church more. Once again, wonderful, but why? Suppose you want to go to meet with others who like you are stuggling, but have chosen to give their time to God and to the uplifting of His work and those who do not know Him as their Lord and Savior?
I want to go back to school. A noble pursuit. Why? To get a better job? Wonderul? Why? So, that you can give more to the church?
What is your focus for your resolutions? I can tell you that if you keep them worldly in nature and self centered they will not last.
Let me know how I can pray for you as you consider your rethought resolutions for the new year?
Proverbs 3:5-6 (The Message)
5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline;
don't sulk under his loving correction.
It's the child he loves that God corrects;
a father's delight is behind all this.
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