New Resolve - This year, rejoice in your relationship with Christ and model His commitment.

by Richard Bimler

’Tis the season for resolutions. We vow to eat better, exercise more and complain less—all good and admirable goals—but how long do we honor these promises? Often, not as long as we like. In a matter of days or weeks, we slip back into old eating and exercise habits and invariably find ourselves grumbling about the weather, work or the price of gas. Best intentions leave us feeling frustrated, like we’ve failed ourselves yet again.

My mom, Mildred, had a favorite saying regarding New Year’s resolutions. According to her, all they ever amount to is “in one year and out the other.” Does your life experience back up my mom’s wisdom? With all of the extra stress and turmoil that often comes at this time of year, it’s no wonder our best intentions fail. So, should we simply resolve not to make any more resolutions?

Resolutions are not bad in and of themselves. It is important and healthy to set personal goals and throw yourself into projects with the best of intentions. The problem with resolutions is this: They tend to encourage us to focus on ourselves, rather than on our faith in a living Lord who loves and forgives us, even when we botch things up—including our resolutions.

This year, before making resolutions that center only on self-improvement, let’s first celebrate soul improvement and help each other rediscover the never-to-be-broken resolution that our Lord gives us in Baptism: He calls us as His own, even when we fail!

We are God’s people, not because of what we have done or resolve to do, but because of what Christ has done for us through His life, death and resurrection. With this as our focus, we are empowered by the Spirit to share our gifts of joy, peace, patience, kindness, forgiveness and thankfulness—not because we want to earn God’s favor, but because we are His people.

In other words, it is not that we “gotta” do it, but that we “get to” do it. We get to serve God and others. We get to take care of ourselves in order to take better care of others. We get to tell others about Christ’s love for everyone. It is not about us; it is about Christ living in us.

A little girl who portrayed the angel in our Christmas program one year summed it up well. As the shepherds came and huddled all around the manger scene, the little angel noticed that the audience could not see the baby Jesus in His crib. With her halo shining brightly, she yelled at the shepherds, “Get out of the way and let Jesus show through!”

Simple but profound words: “Let Jesus show through.” So, while you want to be sure to take care of yourself, more than anything, it is good to remember to rejoice that God, in Christ, has resolved to raise you up and forgive you whether or not you reach all of your goals.

The ongoing resolve that you and I have from the Lord is simply this from Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

And that’s good enough for me.

Dr. Richard Bimler serves Wheat Ridge Ministries part time as its senior staff associate after 15 years as president. He also is the AH-HA! Ambassador for Lutheran Life Communities.