A New Year, A New You!

Romans 12:2 (NLT)

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

Most people are excited by the possibilities a new year can bring. The new year ushers in a new beginning. It allows us to reflect on the year we are leaving behind in order to embrace everything the new year has in store.

*Enters the ever so popular “New Year’s Resolution.”*

Often, these resolutions are based on our reflection and assessment of the ending year:

things we could have done better,

bad habits that needed to be broken,

relationships that could have used more of our attention,

the weight we desperately needed to lose,

the spending habits we needed to get under control.

When January 1st hits, we take off running. We’re in the gym every day. Juicing and avoiding carbs and sugar.  Researching schools. Avoiding the mall and hiding our credit cards in obscure places. Scheduling more offline social interactions.

But something always happens around (or before) January 15th. All of our passion and willpower for changing these areas of our lives goes right out the window.  We have officially burned ourselves out with trying to keep promises we’ve made to ourselves.

I can say all of this because I realized, as many of us often do, that this year’s resolutions ( or goals, if the term “resolution”  makes you cringe) are carbon copies of last year’s resolutions.

We wanted to eat healthier and exercise more last year.

We wanted to pay more attention to relationships that mattered last year.

We wanted to set better boundaries and focus more on our purpose last year.

Now, here we are promising that we will do this year what we fell short of doing last year?

Our resolution should be to stick to our resolutions!

So what is keeping us from fulfilling the promises we’ve made to ourselves, and sometimes even to God?

Romans 12:2 which happens to be my focus verse for the year, helped me to understand the importance of changing how I think about what needs to be changed before I exert any more effort to change it.

Sure hope that made sense!

We have to come to a place in our lives where we resolve to allow God to change the way we think about the weight that so easily slows us down and the sin that so easily trips us up.

No matter how disciplined we think we are, our own willpower will eventually fail us.

We have to make God’s mindset on a thing our mindset. We can do this by reading and meditating on God’s word and prayerfully applying the appropriate scriptures to the thing that needs to be changed.

So stop trying so hard!

All of your resolve, guilt, shame, and self-loathing will never help in making changes that only the transforming power of Christ through the Holy Spirit can accomplish.

Depend on God’s strength and not your own.

Remember, God is at work in you, giving you the desire to do what pleases him.

Allow his word to transform the way you think and watch your life transform in an amazing way.