A Key for Keeping Resolutions
January is the time of making resolutions to overcome bad habits and sins, to change our behavior and become better. February to June is the time when those resolutions are often broken. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
If you want to be faithful to the commitment you make, there are a few guidelines.
- Remember that we make our plans but God directs our paths. We can’t see what tomorrow will bring that could interrupt our efforts. However, if we are listening, we can hear when God convicts us that we need to make a change. If God directs a change, His grace will be available to carry it out. So, the first thing we need to do is make God part of the equation—from setting the goals all the way to completion.
- Make all your efforts as a commitment to the Lord and look to Him for your reward. Seek to please Him. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive your reward” (Col. 3:23-24).
- Ask the Lord for help along the way. When it’s tough, look to Him. When you fail, run to Him, repent, confess, and ask for help, When you succeed, give Him the praise and glory. He made us to be dependent on Him.
When you lose heart, remember that the Lord is sufficient to help you succeed. As an example, consider a resolution to overcome anger. God clearly tells us to get rid of anger. That would be a worthy goal for 2016.
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” (Eph. 4:29,31).
Life is better without anger, and it’s clear that God doesn’t want any expression of anger left in our lives. He wants it all gone, all put away. If we’ve been convicted that we need to get rid of anger, we can expect to gain freedom.
But, it’s not that easy when faced with life situations that anger us. Anger is an emotion. It just happens. In fact, we might not make that resolution because we’ve tried and failed so often, that we have no hope of success.
Focus on our failures will defeat us. Instead of looking at the past and at our strength to prevail, we need to keep our eyes on God.
He is our hope. His grace is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9), and all things are possible through Him (Matt. 19:26, Lk. 18:27). He would not ask this of us if it were something that couldn’t happen.
But we we are not alone. God is with us, but we need to grasp His hand for the journey. It is through Him that all things are possible. If we keep our hopes on ourselves and our own efforts, we will probably fail. Only as we look to Him for our salvation and transformation do we find His grace sufficient.
Sometimes, after a failure, we become disappointed in God for not answering our prayers. However, if we run to Him only in the crisis, only when we have a pressing need, we will never fully tap into the grace that is available.
Our God is a relational God, not a problem solver on call. We grow in grace and strength and are conformed into His image through an intimate relationship with Him.
Jesus faced the ultimate abuse, and He never lost His temper or spoke a word in His own defense–but He maintained daily communion with His Father. He often slipped away for time alone with Him.
For whatever resolution we make or need we face, God’s strength is available. His grace is sufficient. The question is. Are we sufficiently related with Him?
(Adapted from Lesson One of Uprooting Anger: Destroying the Monster Within, a Bible study that will guide you through steps to overcome anger by walking with God through the journey.)