I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. But if I did…

Posted by Alan Knox on Jan 2, 2012 in discipleship, personal | 1 comment

Some of the most popular New Year’s Resolutions include things like losing weight, exercising, quitting smoking/drinking/etc., spending more time with family and friends, getting out of debt, getting organized, and enjoying life more. I wonder how people measure that last one…

I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. There are enough things that I don’t do; why add to the list? I really don’t need the guilt…

But, if I did make New Year’s Resolutions this year, I think these two would be at the top of the list:

1) Focus on and meditate on God more.

I don’t want to be unaware or desensitized to what God is doing in my life and in the lives of the people around me. Sometimes God can be so familiar, that I barely recognize or appreciate the many things that he does daily. I want to be more appreciative, more trusting, more malleable…

2) Focus on and serve others more.

In the same way that I’m often unaware of what God is doing, I’m also often so focused on myself that I miss the needs in the lives of people around me. This could be needs among people that I know well, or even complete strangers.

Now that I think about it, these two non-resolutions remind me a lot of Jesus’ two greatest commandments…

It would be easy to come up with different activities that might help me with these two desires: prayer, fasting, Scripture reading, giving, etc. But, I’ve found that when I set out to complete certain activities, I do just that. The activities become an end in themselves. I become very good at completing those activities, but I don’t love God or others more.

Now, for other people, this may not be the case. So, I’m not saying that you should not seek pray more or to fast or to give a certain amount to those in need. I just know that for me these kinds of goals tend to work against my ultimate desires and purpose.

So, I want to love more – love God more and love other people more. I know that I can’t create this love on my own. I could probably produce something that looks like love for a short time, but that’s not what I want. So, in reality, I’m asking God to help me love him and love others more.

Of course, I must be willing to submit to whatever work he does in my life. And, I’ve found in the past that God doesn’t always work the way that I expect him too. Will I submit anyway? I guess only time will tell…

Did you make New Year’s Resolutions this year? If so, what were they?