2014 New Year's Resolutions

No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, 

but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing:  

forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  

I strain to reach the end of the race...   

Philippians 3:13-14

January 4, 2014:  a little late, some would say, for making New Year’s Resolutions, but my attitude is – better late than never!  It is still the beginning of a new year – a time when we often think about what we could / should do differently in our lives.

This year, I am only going to make two (2) resolutions.  Yes – you read that right.  Just two.  Mind you, that does not mean that there are only two things in my life that need changing!  There are actually more than two CATEGORIES of things that need changing.  There is my HEALTH (diet, stress, anxiety levels, etc.), FITNESS (diet (again!), exercise, etc.), ATTITUDES, OUTLOOK, DREAMS, and so forth.  I could go on and on.  But I have found that the more resolutions I write down at the beginning of a new year, the more resolutions I abandon within a month or two of the starting date.

Therefore, my two resolutions are relatively basic, and come from the words of Christ Himself:

1    Resolution #1:  Love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind and with all my strength.   Mark 12:30

I do love God – and I know He knows that.  But somehow these words of Jesus seem to mean much more than our cultural understanding of “love” would indicate.  Jesus said, “Hey – don’t just ‘love’ God (like you ‘love’ your cat, or a good bowl of pasta), but put everything you have into it!”

                Heart                     the seat of my emotions

                Soul                       the seat of my faith

                Mind                     the seat of my intellect

                Strength              the seat of my physical self

Loving God through all of these avenues is so much more than a tacit acknowledgement that I care about Him.  It involves continuity, commitment, compassion and challenge.  It is taking my relationship with God to the next level in 2014.   The old What Would Jesus Do? campaign might have gone “out of style,” but it is never irrelevant for my day-to-day life.

2    Resolution #2:  Love my neighbor as myself.  Mark 12:31

Have you ever noticed that Jesus did not direct us to love our neighbor with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength?  No – instead He asked us to love our neighbors (every human being surrounding us) as much as we love ourselves.  I don’t know about you, but I am very attached to this being called “myself.”   And I (try to) exercise my heart, soul, mind and strength to take care of “me” – someone that I would like to have around for a long time!  So if I am going to love you like I love myself, I will need to be very interested in your welfare as well.

What Would Jesus Do? becomes a relevant question for this resolution as well – although it will take a lot of discipline to have that question come to mind before irritation or unkindness pours out of my mouth.  When I am the recipient of a thoughtless word, an unkind action, a mean cut, or a selfish act (on the road, in the grocery store, or in just about any circumstance imaginable), my first concern is usually for myself with little thought process for the other person.  What if my first thought was concern for the other person?  That would be something new in my life!

I have asked God to assist me in my 2014 New Year’s resolutions, for I’m fairly certain that otherwise they will just fade into the sunset.  I am really looking forward to this New Year, and I am excited to partner with God to love Him more completely, and to show true kindness and compassion for those who cross my pathway. 

The unfailing love of the LORD never ends!

By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.

Great is his faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day.

Lamentations 3:22-24