Need Help Making Year’s Resolutions Last?
Each January, I feel sad removing ornaments from our Christmas tree. Since each one holds meaning, it’s hard to pack them away for another year. So, to cheer myself up, I think of new beginnings for the year ahead.
Are you starting the new year hoping to break a habit or start a healthy new one?
As you know, it’s hard to keep those resolutions for more than two weeks. Like many people, I struggle to follow through because I want behavior change without the work, or I struggle in my own strength instead of asking God’s help to take charge.
Want to make lasting change?
You can make a fresh start no matter your situation, season of life, or past missteps. When you surrender your weaknesses to God, he lavishes you with his love and equips you with his power. It’s never too late to start anew. Chapter eleven of my book, Eve Blameless and Beloved, examines new beginnings. After the tragedy of Cain killing Abel, Adam and Eve needed hope. They anticipated a new future with the birth of Seth, who would be an ancestor in Jesus’s human lineage.
Habit changes begin with heart changes. This new year, if you’re looking for deep change or a significant life transformation, don’t strive to change your behavior; ask Jesus to change your heart. Transformation flows out of a renewed heart.
Jesus is our only hope. Meditate on this biblical promise: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). Pray for the change you’d like to establish, claim you are loved by Christ, and ask God to renew your old, tired, stressed life with freedom from lies that say you’re not enough so you can pursue all you’re meant to do.
Give it to God and get an accountability partner.
Grab an accountability partner to improve your chances of keeping your New Year’s resolutions. I’d love for you to get my book, grab a friend, head to page 262 for discussion questions, and seek God’s truth regarding your identity: You are God’s blameless and beloved creation.
I’m offering January discounts on Eve Blameless and Beloved: Freedom from Lies That Say You’re Not Enough to encourage you on your new beginnings. Click here and use the code NEWYEAR to purchase a discounted book for yourself and one for a friend.
By Kathy Thomas, author of Eve Blameless and Beloved: Freedom from Lies That Say You’re Not Enough.
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Notice how we talk about time—we spend time, waste time, save time, take time—all suggesting we have control over time!
Judging by the number of times I’ve heard people say, “I don’t have enough time,” it sounds like there is a universal shortage of it. How do we get more?
We have the talents and skills to make many things, but we can’t make more time. So, the real question is: “How do we use the time we have in the most fulfilling way?”
The other day my grown daughter commented, “Mom, you are always writing for someone else, why don’t you write for your family?” She proceeded to remind me about some children’s books I had started years ago when she was growing up. Since then, her words keep ringing in my ears. It got me questioning, “Why am I writing?” How about you?
Why do you write? Who do you want to read your words? It’s not an easy answer. It takes some soul searching. I pondered, “Am I seeking recognition from others?” Or to feel good about myself because I made someone else feel good?” The truth is, there are far more people that will forget who I am than those who will remember me. But to my family, I’m pretty important. Especially to my young, impressionable grandchildren! I am blessed! You are important too!
In this busy world, we strive to make a name for ourselves, to make our lives matter. While you may not know it yet, your life already matters. It matters now and for generations that will come after you. Your children’s children, and their children may want to know what you were like. They will seek to glean what they can learn from your life, your struggles, your successes, your values, your faith. They will wonder what qualities or characteristics of yours are similar to theirs. Your life, good or bad, is a great teacher.
My husband has a journal from his great grandmother, Lucy, who lived from 1878 to 1960. It is entitled: “Seventy Years of Living.” It is profoundly interesting reading about what life was like, but not nearly as interesting as the lessons we learned from her life and the characteristics I see present in her great, great grandson! We learned of a young couple who were intent on building a farm and a lifestyle. They were entrepreneur types always expanding at great financial risk. Unfortunately, they borrowed rather than saved to have the things they thought they needed. They were particularly impressed with the latest and greatest inventions of the time—like a flush toilet for example! Dean’s great uncle, the oldest of the children, complained he’d have to run upstairs and refill it with water every time anyone flushed! Funny? Not so very much. They lost the farm. But they endured and that’s the real lesson.
