NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)

                This time of the year it common for people to make New Year’s resolutions. Usually, these resolutions focus on what a person wants to do in the new year. It may be to lose weight, or write a book, or get a new job, or find that special someone. Some of these resolutions are “big picture” and some are more short-term goals. We all need goals to strive for, so making resolutions at the beginning of the year is not a bad idea. The problem for most of us is that we routinely fail to follow through. In the routine of life, we forget about our resolutions and fall back into well-worn patterns of living. It takes real intentionality and determined action to actually attain the goals we set for ourselves.

                As I have already stated, most of our resolutions focus on what we want to do in the new year. I want to suggest that we need another category of resolution; a much more significant category. We need to ask ourselves not what we want to do in the new year, but who we want to become in the new year. In what ways do I want to be a different, and hopefully better, person at the end of 2023? What I am talking about is character development. Who I am shapes all that I do.

                We live in a world where character have been marginalized. How many times have we heard some prominent person say something like this. “My personal life has nothing to do with my ability to do my job.” “My private life is none of anyone’s business.” “Who I am in private has no bearing on who I am in public.” These kinds of statements are routinely accepted by the general public, yet they are completely false. Who a person is in their character shapes all that they do in life. The two cannot be separated.

                Too often lately, we have seen the demise of some public figure because of “their private life.” Unfortunately, this has been too common among well-known Christian leaders. Their public persona and their personal character collide causing a mighty crash. Not only does this affect the individual, but it expands in a wave that engulfs a multitude of others. Entire congregations and networks of churches have suffered because of the character flaws of their leader.

                Having said all this, I come back to my original thought. Who do you want to be this year? A good place to start is with the fruit of the Spirit as outlined in Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Each of these fruits is a character issue. For these to be fully realized in our lives, we need to intentionally cultivate them.

                When we moved to Michigan, we inherited some fruit trees. I was excited about the possibility of harvesting fruit from my own trees. I quickly realized that it wasn’t that simple. In order for my trees to bear good fruit, I had to fertilize them, water them, prune them, and spray them. If I just left them, I would get bad fruit or no fruit at all. But if I was intentional about caring for them, I could expect an abundance of fruit.

                The same is true of our character. If we neglect developing our character, we can expect negative results. But if we intentionally invest in developing our character, we will bear much fruit. There are two things that I need to say about developing our character. First, we cannot do this on our own by sheer will-power. We need both the power of the Holy Spirit guiding us and others to walk along side of us to encourage us. Second, we cannot expect to tackle all of the issues of our character at once. Instead, we need to focus on one or two critical areas, and trust the Holy Spirit to guard the rest.

                Ultimately our goal is to be like Christ. We want to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can conform to Christ’s likeness. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:18, And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

                So, who do you want to be in 2023? What character traits are at the top of your list? Two things I want to work on this year are patience and self-control. Too often I get impatient and want to run ahead of God. I also give in to temptation way too easily. I need to learn to rest in God’s timing and trust in His design for my life. How about you?

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
Colossians 1:10-12 (NIV)