HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Many people, including myself, really think about ways to better their lives at the beginning of each year. I think that is awesome, but for those of us who are Christ followers, I think that we should do it more than just once a year. We should CONSTANTLY be thinking about ways that we can better serve and worship God in our lives.

Has anyone else made any New Year's Resolutions? Mine are different than past years. In the past, I have always made myself a goal, but had never really put much thought into how I was going to achieve that goal. For instance, one of my new year's resolutions last year was probably to grow in my relationship with God, by reading my Bible more and stuff like that. This year it has kinda changed a way. Living for Christ is definitely still a goal this year, but I have put more thought into HOW I am going to do that. Instead of just saying, "I'm going to read my Bible more," I have made a list of things to accomplish each day of the year 2009. Reading one chapter of a Christian-living book, one chapter of my Bible, and writing in my prayer journal are some of the things on that list. One thing I have realized about myself is that I generally have to be very organized about things if I want to get them accomplished. I can't tell myself to just keep my room clean, I have to schedule one day out of each week to spend thoroughly cleaning it out, or plan on spending a little time each day cleaning up. Once I have a schedule like this for awhile, and get used to it, it becomes more of a habit. But first, I have to make lists of what to do daily/weekly/monthly/etc.

I think this year, my goal more than anything is to build good habits in my life. I'm so forgetful, I procrastinate, and I am extremely inconsistent in areas where I should never be inconsistent. I read a quote once that said, "The things we do involuntarily, almost without thinking, reveal our character." It seems like most of the habits I had in my life last year , and the "things I did involuntarily, almost without thinking" consisted of me being lazy and selfish. This year, with God's help, I want to change that. I want to show God's love involuntarily. I can't do that until I get to know God, and experience His love, learning how to show it to others. I can't get to know God until I am willing to use my time to seek Him, and to TRY to get to know Him better. I want that to be a habit this year- Seeking God. I want the first thoughts that come from my mind during the day to be, "How can I serve, worship, and get to know God better today?" instead of "How can I get my way today?"

Some people don't make New Year's Resolutions, because they consider them "Pre-planned disappointments". I can see how someone could think this way, I often have. However, what if we looked at how we could better our lives for Christ more than just once a year? What if we made big goals at the beginning of each year, and then each week, or each month afterward, set time aside to really figure out how to do even better? Or if we found that we were getting off track, figure out how to get back on track? For me, this sounds easier said than done. School hasn't even started back up yet, and it's only the second day of the year, and I just realized that I have already forgotten to do something on my "daily" list! But we have to figure out how we want our lives to look in the future, and get started on making our lives look that way now! If we want it bad enough, we will figure out how to do it. Sometimes it seems like we as humans don't think the work involved is worth it, though. God does, however, and that should be all that matters to people who call themselves followers of Christ. God has given us everything that we need to do this! We can do it!!!

Praise God for another year of life!