Biblical Womanhood and Christian Living
Keeping New Year's Resolutions
By Olivia C. McEntire
Jan 20, 2007 - 5:13:00 PM

Here we are almost three weeks into 2007. Most of us have probably succeeded in some of our goals and failed in others. Or we might’ve succeeded in a goal one day and failed the next. According to a study by Shapiro, a former corporate consultant at Accenture study, only 8% of Americans say they always achieve their New Year’s resolutions. That’s pretty low! What’s more, A recent survey by psychologists at the University of Washington, found most people keep their #1 resolution for only two months. So, by the beginning of March most people have forgotten about their New Year’s Resolutions – that or pushed them from their mind because they failed at them so many times.

I’m certainly aware that it’s easy to sit and make a list of things you’d like to do differently and things you’d like to accomplish! I love the New Year… a few weeks before New Year’s Eve I always begin giving thought to what the past year has taught me, areas I failed in, and areas I succeeded in. Most of all, though, instead of looking backwards, I begin looking forward to the things I’d like to accomplish and do in the New Year. I always feel energized and ready to tackle it all. Amazingly though, by the second week of January or so, things have returned to normal, all the holiday ruckus has died down, and "real life" begins again.Then comes the part of actually making that list come to life, and it’s not usually quite so exciting anymore.

I do pretty well with most of my New Year's goals, but in thinking about why I tend to fail in some, I realized it’s because, after the excitement of a new year has died away and I’ve failed for a few days, I then have no gumption to try to do better. Thinking on that and trying to determine a remedy, the Lord impressed upon my mind that every month is a new beginning, every week is a new start, every day is fresh with no mistakes (as Anne of Green Gables would say), and every hour is a chance to do better. There is, of course, merit at the beginning of the year to access where you are and put together a plan for the next year… because without a plan most people definitely won’t get anywhere. However, I think that sometimes that whole mentality makes us think that that is the only time we can renew our efforts in any given area.

Proverbs 24:16a says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.” If we want to be just, which simply means righteous, when we fall, we will rise up again, and again, and again… and again. It’s probably unrealistic to think that we’ll be able to keep every goal we have every day without fail and without messing up. We should know ourselves better than that… from past experience we should know that at times we will fall. Not that we should go into it with an “I’m going to fail” attitude--but we need a realistic attitude that we are human, and even as born-again Christians, we still have to deal with the flesh day in and day out. If we go into it thinking we’ll do perfectly, then when we do fail, we’ll be all the much more discouraged. If we go into it with the attitude that we will do the best we can, but that when we fall we will rise again and keep on going, I believe we are much better set up for success.

We must strive to look at each new day as a new start and have a determination to do better on our goals. If a day is progressing where you haven’t done some things you wanted to do every day, the next hour is always there. If you’ve spoken harshly to someone, the next minute is there to ask forgiveness and spread kindness instead. Review where you are at the beginning of each new month and look at each new week as a chance to do better. (For, no matter how well you’ve done, you can almost always do even better!)

I’ve been trying to adopt this mindset (it was actually one of my goals… one that would help me reach the others better), and it’s already proved helpful. Don’t get discouraged because you failed today; just determine to do better tomorrow. Another needful thing I believe is asking God every day for help in the areas you want to work on. Don’t think for a minute that you’ll be able to do them for very long on your own. If we want to live good and holy lives, it will take the help of God. Psalms 33:20b says, “He is our help and our shield.” He is there to be our help, but how often we struggle along trying to do it on our own, thinking we can handle it!

I’ve been asking God for help in the areas I’m working on, and for strength to do the things I want to accomplish. It makes me realize the seriousness of it more. If I’m asking for His help, then I’m less likely to be laggardly about it. Don’t make it just a goal; make it a commitment before God, and then, with His help, press on in it. I really believe that without this important key--asking for His help as a daily part of our lives--we will never succeed in doing right for the right reasons. If we receive help from Him, we will then be able to say with the Psalmist in the 63rd chapter: “Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.” When we receive help from Him and do right and live right, it does give us great reasons for rejoicing.

Something else that is needful is realizing that we do have the power to do right. II Peter 1: 3&4 says “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” We are partakers of His divine power through salvation. What a wonderful thought! Having been made His children and adopted into His family, we have access to power from on high. Our old man has been crucified with Him, and it is now a choice to serve the old man. Before salvation, we had no choice--we were "sold under sin." We only had the old man. After salvation, we were given a new man: Ephesians 4:24 says, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Now we know this, “that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

So, yes, we’ve been given a new man, and the old one has been crucified, but the new man won’t automatically be put on, nor will we treat the old one as crucified. In default mode we live for the old man, therefore it has to be a conscious decision to do and live right--which is the practical aspect of putting on the new man. We now have the power to live a victorious life over the sin that so easily besets us. We don’t have to fail; we have the power and ability to live right. We’ve been given exceeding great and precious promises that make us able to be partakers of the divine nature. The question is, will we make use of those promises or will they have been given to us in vain?

I’ve shared three things that I believe when done together will be a recipe for succeeding in our goals and resolutions for 2007. It has been my approach, and with those thoughts in my head, I feel like this year will be even better than the one that’s gone before. I hope that you will succeed in looking at each and every day as a new day as a new opportunity, asking God for help for that day, and determining to put on the new man on the outset. Happy New Year!!

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." – Galations 5:1