It's that time of the year again-- the first week of January, in which we dream up all sorts of resolutions and plans to achieve them. (Which, to be honest, may or may not actually be accomplished.)
Some will resolve to eat healthier.
Others will resolve to get fit.
Still others will resolve to become more confident and brave.
To be more intentional, to quit procrastinating, to budget time and money, to be less selfish, to actively seek happiness, to love others more, to give more, to achieve more, to be more.
There are always so many different ways we find we ought to improve ourselves, when we stop to reflect in the dawn of a new year.
And improvement is good. Resolutions are good, truly. As followers of Christ, we are supposed to grow.
But the thing is-- all those various resolutions I listed? They don't matter. (Stay with me, y'all.)
There is only one New Year's resolution that we should be concerning ourselves with this year (and every year), and without it, attempts at any other means of self-improvement are ultimately futile.
The one resolution that we ought to make before anything else?
"He must become greater; I must become less."
// John 3:30 (NIV)
If your life is not Christ-centered, if Jesus isn't your everything, then how do you hope to find fulfillment in completing a list of resolutions?
We are saved by His grace, not by self-improvement.The whole reason Christ died on the cross for us is because we could never hope to be good enough on our own strength. Why, then, do we think that we'll succeed when we continue to try on our own? He doesn't want our good deeds and resolutions to be better-- He just wants us, our whole hearts, our everything. He wants for us to know and to be known by Him.
True hope, joy, peace, and fulfillment is found in Christ alone.
This year, and every year, I ultimately want less of me and more of Jesus. The other areas of character-growth I need will follow that.
As we begin 2017, please consider adopting a new way of looking at resolutions-- and remember which one is the most important of all for us as Christ-followers. And now, I'll leave you with a quote from the wonderful C.S. Lewis, who tends to express things perfectly:
"Look for Christ and you will find Him. And with Him, everything else."
// C.S. Lewis
