Part 1
Jeremiah 29:11-14
“11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord…”
With the starting of a new year many Christians made New Year resolutions. There is nothing in the Bible that prohibits a Christian from making New Year resolutions, personal goals and plans. Many who make New Year resolutions have the expectation of a change in their life or something new. For some, a new year means, a new start, a clean slate, a change from the old to the new. You have probably heard the expression, “out with the old and in with the new”.
The following are the five most common New Year resolutions that Americans made for 2023. 1. Exercise more. 2. Eat healthier. 3. Lose weight. 4. Save more money. 5. Spend more time with family and friends.
Most Christians who make new year resolutions have a goal they want to reach and a plan of how to achieve their goal. Goal – The purpose toward which an endeavor is directed; an objective, ambition, aspiration. Plan – A scheme, program, or method worked out beforehand for the accomplishment of an objective or goal.
What does the Bible teach us about our goals and plans?
Proverbs 15:22, Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Luke 14:28-30, 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
Proverbs 16:3, Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 16:9, In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 19:21, Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
What is the intention or purpose of making New Year resolutions especially for a person who has received Jesus in their life as Savior and submitted their life to Him? Does making New Year resolutions go against what the Bible teaches us concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life? Do the New Year resolutions we made for ourselves line up with God’s will for our lives as His children? As believers in Christ, we all should consider the answers to these and other similar questions concerning making New Year Resolutions.
Making New Year resolutions is the resolve or a personal desire “to continue good practices, change an undesired trait or behavior, accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their behavior at the beginning of a calendar year.” In itself there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the personal desire of our New Year resolutions. However, in doing so, are we by our own sincere desire and determination for change and or personal improvement, putting aside or disregarding the work of the Holy Spirit and the means He uses in our life to transform us to the image of Christ?
2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT, “And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”
Romans 8:11 NLT, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
Romans 8:29, NLT, For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son…”
One reason why many Christians make New Year resolutions is because of the desire to change from the old and to bring in some aspect of newness to their life. But a new year does not make us a new person. We are the same person today in 2023 as we were on December 31st 2022. As Christians, when we are continually and humbly submitting to the Holy Spirit and spending time in prayer, in God’s word and in fellowship with God’s family, we have the assurance that we will be a different and changed person than we were last year.
In Matthew 9:16-17 Jesus taught us an important spiritual and life principle. You cannot have or mix the new with old. 16 “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. 17 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.” New Living Translation
There are many ways this principle of the new and the old relates to our lives. When we came into a new relationship or have been in a relationship for many years with God through Christ Jesus, we should have a desire and expectancy from what we read in the Bible of “the new”, which is a promised changed and different life in Christ Jesus. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17. But for some who are reading this, you do not see or notice, and experience much of the “newness” that you read about in God’s Word. Is it because you have not done away with the old in your life? If we are in a sincere relationship with Christ, we should continually ask ourselves this question. Are we living a life in Christ desiring and experiencing all the newness of a changed life that the Bible tells us about?
There many verses in the New Testament that tell us about the new life we have in Christ no matter how long we have had a relationship with God. All the following verses are from the New Living Translation.
Romans 5:18, “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.”
1 Corinthians 15:22, “Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.
Colossians 2:12, “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”
Colossians 3:1, “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.”
Colossians 3:10-11, 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
Titus 3:4-5, 4 But—”When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
Pastor John
Next week we will be continuing part 2 of our study, The Desire of Something New and Improvement In Our Lives
