Why Make Resolutions?
Starting new rhythms can feel like a sacred practice. Sitting down at the end of the year and reflecting on the year’s highs and lows can be both joyful and disappointing. Maybe you set a goal last year that is now an integral part of your routine, or maybe you set five new resolutions that were all dropped within a month.
The typical resolutions, losing weight, hitting the gym, saving money, or eating healthier, cause the capacity of gyms to blow up at the beginning of the year, and then slowly deflate through the end of January as people give up or don’t see immediate results. This yearly pattern leaves most people hesitant to even try to start a resolution some January 1st.
I want to urge you to try anyway- try to introduce new habits for a higher purpose.
Tips for being intentional in discipleship in the new year
Cody has outlined our goals as a church moving into this next year through the “be one, make one, reach one” ministry vision, and we can turn these concepts into tangible daily steps.
Be One
- Create specific goals
Our call to discipleship starts with being one, first and foremost walking as a disciple of Jesus. If going deeper in the Word is your goal this year, try your hand at journaling during your quiet time. Instead of vaguely committing to reading the Bible more, creating more specific goals, such as using the SOAP journaling method. Utilizing the Matthew Scripture journals that were given out in the past couple weeks can be a great starting place!
- Bring other people in with you
Ask your friends and family to join in with you! Incorporating a level of camaraderie and accountability into your resolutions adds a sense of community and fun to the goal. Knowing that someone else is working towards the same goal and will ask you about your progress could end up being the one thing that keeps you going.
Make One
- Find the right goal
The second part of our ministry vision for this year is to expand Jesus’s heart in our community. You might think this seems like too big of a task to even know where to start. That’s where our local church body comes in. The church holds countless ways to reach and connect with the hearts of fellow believers, whether that looks like serving in children’s ministry, leading a home group, or joining a table group in Band of Brothers or Women in the Word.
Take some time and evaluate your individual giftings and see where they could best fit in a serving capacity.
If this still feels too daunting, join forces with the people in your life and do it together!
Reach One
- Learn and adapt
Lastly, we’re called to reach one, by expressing the heart of Jesus to our neighbors. Cody encouraged each of us to find two people in our lives who don’t know Jesus and share the Gospel with them. Our neighborhoods are full of people who do not know Jesus, and together as a church body can join hands this year as a church in building relationships with them and praying for them.
If you start out doing something this year that just doesn’t work, and you find yourself falling into inconsistency, don’t be afraid to change your methods!
Maybe you’re a night owl, but you committed to waking up early each morning to pray for the two people you chose, but you dread going to sleep knowing that you have to wake up early. While this is a worthy goal, give yourself grace to switch to praying before you fall asleep at night!
New Year’s Resolutions are often fleeting but join me in making this year’s resolutions resound for eternity.
Claire Frailey