Resolved: Not to Make Any New Year’s Resolutions

Congratulations to me! I’ve succeeded in keeping the one resolution that I made at the start of 2025: I resolved not to make any other resolutions. Success!

 

Most resolutions are like ice cubes in the hot sun. They don’t last long. They’re the paving material for the roads to good intentions and wishful thinking. ‘I’m going to lose weight.’ ‘I’m going to exercise regularly.’ ‘I’m going to get out of debt.’ ‘I’m going to start reading my Bible.’ ‘I’m going to travel more this year.’ ‘I’m going to become a kinder person.’ If you’re a resolutions maker, you can probably add to that list.

 

Unfortunately, when it comes to resolutions, it’s not the thought that counts. They lack staying power, and as soon as you break a resolution that’s it. Game over. ‘I knew I couldn’t do it!’

 

Spending consistent time in the 
Scriptures is a worthwhile goal.

Does that mean we should forsake all efforts to make personal changes and strive for improvement? Not at all. But I’d suggest that instead of all-or-nothing resolutions, set goals instead. Use them as targets to aim toward. Some are reachable very quickly; others require perseverance over the long haul – a year or even longer.

For example: Instead of making a resolution to always eat right and radically change your lifestyle to become fit, set a goal. One that’s reasonable, measurable and attainable. That way, as the adage goes, if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. 

 

Years ago, a friend showed me the value of setting goals for different areas of life. Such as physical, mental, financial, relational, vocational, and spiritual. At the time my family had considerable debt, so we established a workable strategy and goals for digging ourselves out. As Proverbs 22:7 observes, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” It took time but we eventually were able to extricate ourselves from financial servitude.

 

I’ve consistently set goals for other areas of my life, but perhaps most important has been the spiritual. What kinds of goals can you set for that? Reading through the Bible in one year is one I’ve been able to achieve a number of times. If you set a resolution, “I’m going to read the Bible every day,” and miss even once you might conclude, ‘Why even try?’ However, if you set it as a goal, even if you miss a day or two you can always catch up when you have more time. There are a variety of schedules can be useful for doing that.

 

Why bother reading through the Bible? The first of the Psalms speaks about this: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2). If we don’t determine to focus on God and His Word, our minds are sure to find something else to focus on.

 

Scripture memory has proved to be another very helpful goal, seeking to memorize Bible passages that had special meaning for me. King David wrote, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word…. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9-11).

 

We find a similar principle in Joshua 1:8, which God spoke to Joshua as he was preparing to succeed Moses as leader of the Israelites: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” We live in a world that bombards us with messages contrary to what the Lord teaches us through the Scriptures. Memorizing and meditating on the Word of God helps us to cultivate thinking that aligns with His will for us.

 

A much broader spiritual goal might be to know the Lord better and, in the process to become more and more like Him. For this reason, years ago I adopted the first portion of Philippians 3:10 as presented in the Amplified Bible for my own purpose or mission statement. In effect, the apostle Paul was making this his life goal: “That I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His person more strongly and more clearly.”

 

Obviously, this isn’t something to be accomplished through a one-time resolution; it’s a lifelong goal. As Paul stated just two verses later, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12).

As we proceed into another new year, filled with uncertainties, challenges, opportunities, and unexpected twists and turns, I hope you choose to set some definitive goals – perhaps very different from mine – that will enable you to grow and flourish in becoming and doing whatever the Lord puts before you. Happy New Year!