There is nothing wrong with New Year’s resolutions as long as you have a workable plan.
What’s your plan?
Losing Weight
To say that I am going to lose weight, is not a plan. It is an intention. How are you going to shed those pounds? Are you going to choose a diet, or are you going to simply change your eating habits? If you change your eating habits, what specific habits are you going to change, and are the habits that you change enough to shed the pounds? Where will you buy the food? And what will you eat during the social functions that do not include the food that is on your list? What’s your plan?
Becoming a better Christian?
Good plan. How are you going to do it? Will you do that by becoming more informed, more supportive of people, becoming a greater witness? Let’s just take one. Let’s just say that you want to be a better Christian by being more informed. How are you going to do that? Are you going to regularly attend your church’s Bible Study? Are you going to read the Bible regularly? Not to insult anyone with this question, but is the Bible Study worth attending or do you need to look elsewhere? And how do you determine what a good Bible Study is? I know. That’s another subject entirely, but it is worth putting on the table.
Since being informed is just one way to become a better Christian, what are the other ways of becoming a better Christian? One answer is, fellowship with better friends. That’s a good one if I may say so myself. This is true because our friends feed our impulses for good or for bad. So find those friends who feed the best impulses in us. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4%3A8&version=KJVAnd as we strengthen ourselves, then better christians will naturally strengthen others. I, myself, am giving more these days to people who need it and my reasons are quite altruistic. (By the way, that’s a good word to adopt for your vocabulary. King James calls it, “charity”. It means to give without expecting anything in return. It’s a great word.). What’s your plan?
Become a Better Preacher
Yes. Let’s make this personal. I found this one the toughest of all. I plan to become a better preacher. How am I going to do that? WOW! I have to first define what a better preacher is. A better preacher is a Bible preacher. #Bible Preacher It is not merely one who claims to preach the Word without making an effort to dig in it and stick to it. It is one who ties himself to the Word like you tie your shoes to your feet and sticks with it. Secondly, study good preachers. Listen to those who faithfully and effectively preach the Word. I find that a lot of preachers who preach the Word but they are not effective. Study those who are effective and find out why they are effective. It can be very revealing.
There is nothing wrong with New Year’s resolutions as long as you have a plan.
I wish you God’s speed in your plans.
Life Step Ministries 