“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;” Lamentations 3:22-23
Let’s play a game. I’ll say a word and you say the first thing that comes to mind. Ready? Resolution. What did you think? New beginning? Fresh start? Or perhaps the first word that came to your mind was Failure? Do you remember last year’s New Year’s Resolution? I know I don’t remember mine.
One definition of resolution I found is a FIRM DECISION to do or not do something. Another definition calls it a promise to oneself. I don’t know about you, but that scares me just thinking about it. Typically, we’re the hardest on ourselves, aren’t we? Maybe you’re not like me, but I am often hard on myself when it comes to commitments and following through on decisions I’ve made. Yet I can’t predict the future. I don’t know if something will happen that might cause it to not come true.
My daughter has developed a wonderful habit of being honest with her family. But sometimes maybe she shares a little too much. For example, my husband and I went through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (if you haven’t done it, I highly recommend it) not too long ago. One of the changes we made as a result was that we were going to be having what we called “budget meetings” with the kids weekly. This was a time to sit together and talk about the money they’ve made that week, what to save, spend, tithe, etc. The first meeting we sat down and she had just a bit of that 16-year-old attitude (shocker). Then it came out. She didn’t understand why we needed to do this because her dad and I never follow through on anything anyways, so what was the point? Ouch! But she wasn’t wrong on that point.
Does It Matter What We Think? I have a couple of goals I’d like to set for the coming year. However, I have peace knowing that if I don’t follow through today or meet my goal, the verse above promises me that I can try again tomorrow. God’s mercies are new EVERY SINGLE morning. This means that we don’t have to wait for January 1 of each year to start over with our resolution. If we fail, which, let’s face it, we’re human, so we’re bound to fail once in a while, but we have the grace of God to pick ourselves up and try again. And again. And again. I must admit, that makes me feel so much better than making a promise to myself to do or not do something and ultimately know in the back of my head that I may fail at it. So, try not to look at this year as a one-and-done failed attempt at another resolution if you make a mistake by February 1. Let’s look at this year as 365 days of new beginnings!
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