Every year, (I mean every year), I say,
‘This year I will not make New Year’s Resolutions.”
(Which end up being false promises and short-sited commitments to issues greater than this plan I am concocting can fix.)
And yet, I can’t resist, I tell friends and family and radio audiences and social media networks about dreams I have to read more, eat less, rest regularly, learn new skills… I can’t help it, the idea of being re-made into a better version of myself calls me there every time.
There’s a reason for that.
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.”
2 Corinthians 3:18
Colossians and Romans both talk about our renewing of our mind and of our image. It’s how he made us, to be in a continual state of growing closer to how He created us. My New Year’s compulsions aren’t bad, just a little misguided if that self-evaluation only comes around once a year.
Shouldn’t there be a little bit of that longing (to be more than I am right now) in me each day? What would it look like if each day I started with a gut check, how today can I be more like Him?
One of my rather unrealistic New Year’s resolutions is to learn more Hebrew.
Who wants to guess how long that’s going to last? If I focus on the desired outcome (understanding God’s word and how it’s written in context) instead of the expressed goal (learn 3-5 phrases a week), I exponentially increase my chances of success. If I feel several weeks in a row that I couldn’t master a vocabulary list, then I am more likely to give up, missing an opportunity for growth.
This New Year’s season, I am going to start a practice I hope to continue throughout the year (does that smell like a resolution?) I am going to focus more on who I am being, than what I am doing. I am going to challenge myself to be present, instead of overcommitting. I am going to wake up and ask how I am listening (instead of what I am saying.) I am going to pray for wisdom (instead of accumulating knowledge.) And so the list goes on. It’s a tall order, but one I hope is a part of a masterplan my Master has planned to make me more like who He believes I can be.
