Most of us have made New Year’s resolutions at some stage in our lives: to lose weight, to stop smoking, to exercise more, to stop drinking, to start saving, to spend more time with family, etc. There’s something about a New Year that suggests that a new beginning – a fresh start – is possible.
The Bible doesn’t speak either for or against New Year’s resolutions. But most Christians have an opinion one way or the other, which usually falls in one of the following categories:
New Year’s resolutions are notorious for failing. We’ve all heard stories – some funny and some more serious – such as the heavy drinker who vowed to give up alcohol as a New Year’s resolution, but who was drunk for the midnight countdown and stayed that way for most of the following year. New Year’s resolutions are doomed to fail simply because they hold no power in and of themselves. There’s no difference between 31st December and 1st January – nothing happens at midnight that will enable our good intentions to have more chance of succeeding.
In order for our resolutions to succeed, we must have the proper motivation. For example, why do we want to lose weight? Is it to honour God with our bodies, or so that we’ll look better at the beach? Why do we want to attend church? Is it because we want to worship God in a corporate setting, or to keep up appearances?
If we want our New Year’s resolutions to succeed, then we must have God on our side. Philippians 4:13 tells us, ‘I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.’ Whatever resolutions we make need to be honouring to God. For instance, He will never help us to fulfil a resolution to ‘meet someone exciting to have a discrete affair with’ as this would contradict His Word.
If God is at the centre of our New Year’s resolutions, then they have a chance of succeeding. We still need to do the hard work – such as exercising, or using willpower, or getting up early even when it’s dark and cold outside – but if it’s God’s Will that we fulfil our New Year’s resolutions, then He will give us the strength and the tools that we need.
The Bible doesn’t speak either for or against New Year’s resolutions. But most Christians have an opinion one way or the other, which usually falls in one of the following categories:
- For New Year’s resolutions: the Bible calls Christians to be separate from the world, therefore any endeavour that we make to change our lives for the better is a positive thing
- Against New Year’s resolutions: when we accepted Christ, He came to live within us and it’s Him, not our own efforts, that will transform
New Year’s resolutions are notorious for failing. We’ve all heard stories – some funny and some more serious – such as the heavy drinker who vowed to give up alcohol as a New Year’s resolution, but who was drunk for the midnight countdown and stayed that way for most of the following year. New Year’s resolutions are doomed to fail simply because they hold no power in and of themselves. There’s no difference between 31st December and 1st January – nothing happens at midnight that will enable our good intentions to have more chance of succeeding.
In order for our resolutions to succeed, we must have the proper motivation. For example, why do we want to lose weight? Is it to honour God with our bodies, or so that we’ll look better at the beach? Why do we want to attend church? Is it because we want to worship God in a corporate setting, or to keep up appearances?
If we want our New Year’s resolutions to succeed, then we must have God on our side. Philippians 4:13 tells us, ‘I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.’ Whatever resolutions we make need to be honouring to God. For instance, He will never help us to fulfil a resolution to ‘meet someone exciting to have a discrete affair with’ as this would contradict His Word.
If God is at the centre of our New Year’s resolutions, then they have a chance of succeeding. We still need to do the hard work – such as exercising, or using willpower, or getting up early even when it’s dark and cold outside – but if it’s God’s Will that we fulfil our New Year’s resolutions, then He will give us the strength and the tools that we need.
