Articles
A Resolution to Grow With Christ
A new year can make us reflective on the previous year and what goals we want to accomplish for a better year. Hence, the new year’s resolution gets made. These resolutions are admirable because we should be striving on how we can improve ourselves. Yet, these resolutions are known for being temporary phases that soon end up forgotten. If we truly want to turn our resolutions into long lasting habits, then we will need a Christ like approach.
James 4:13-14 reads, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Often our good intentions and pride get the best of us. We make big claims without considering how we will follow through. We also might not know where to begin, or get distracted and become forgetful. This is very similar to when the pride of our stomach claims that we could eat the whole menu, only to stop eating after having an appetizer. If we find our pride getting the better of us, stop and consider our goal to grow with God. He grants us the ability and opportunity to accomplish what we set out to do (James 4:15).
Another way we can get ahead of ourselves is by rushing to meet our finish line. Our aim of growing with God turns into a sprint instead of a marathon. We may go from reading a verse once a week to trying to read the whole Bible in six months. When we rush our spiritual growth, our relationship with Christ will only suffer as a result. Hosea 6:6 says, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Our spiritual growth hinges upon a sincere heart and genuine faith, not by simply completing goals as quickly as we can.
We will all make vows and promises that we cannot keep. Ephesians 5:2,5 (NIV) reminds us, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few…It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.” We should be eager and willing to do the Lord’s work, but we should also do our best to prevent our mouths from getting ahead of us. If we do make a vow that we cannot later keep we must always turn back to the Lord.
No matter what we are doing and trying to accomplish we should try to keep in mind Paul’s words in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
