Why I'm Not Making a Resolution 2011

I'm not sure how I feel about resolutions. First, does anyone ever really keep them? I don't know that I have ever really kept a resolution. Media tells us that this is the time that you need to worry about weight and diet. Really? January 1st? Right after the holidays when we've still got leftover baked goodies and feasts to eat? Right in the dead of winter when it's nearly impossible to start a simple walking regimen? Maybe its just a business tactic: "Buy our product and reach your goals. You will be happy and life will be perfect when you fit into that new jean size!"

What about personal goals like learning how to handle stress, watching less television, spending more time with family, etc? Those are really great things. But our lives aren't really going to change any. We'll still be the same person after the beginning of the year. Habits are hard to break. Behaviors are hard to change. The New Year, Springtime, our birthday - all of those milestone days can be a great opportunity for self-reflection. But in my life, I've found that none of those plans will really work.

Here is where I part ways with the philosophy that inside myself I can find "inner peace" and "inner wisdom". I know what's inside myself. That's what I want to change. The "Christian" needs to remember that it's not about measuring up, being good, or even being "better" than anyone else. You can't change yourself. That's what you admitted the moment you decided to stop putting your faith in yourself and trust God. Oh the torture until that very simple truth is realized. The self-condemnation, the guilt, the striving.

God loves you.

He loves you even when you screw up. Again.

Romans 8, as well as 1 John 1:8-10 are great places to start if someone is just coming to terms with that fact that perfection or the idealized version of oneself can never be reached. If I could sum everything up in a neat little package in how I am approaching the New Year it would be this:

Seek God. Quiet yourself and hear Him. When we have a relationship with God He will work in our minds and hearts and it will be sometime later that you will look back and realize that you have been changed. Judging ourselves and judging others is proof that we have not done this simple thing. I do not judge the person with a different lifestyle than me, I do not judge even the judgmental person. I let them be who they are , trusting that God is knocking on the door of their hearts as well. God will keep me in His care, will bring me through all of the troubles of my life with greater spiritual understanding and compassion for others. And ultimately bring me in the place of trusting him more when I simply seek Him. No special formula is needed, and the cost is free.

Listen to the invitation for your soul: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." ( Matthew 11:28, NIV)