New Year’s resolutions: we’ve all made them, we’ve all broken them. Sometimes we set realistic goals—lose a few pounds, drink a little less caffeine, read a little more. Sometimes we set less realistic goals—I’ll let you provide your own examples of those. Even though we struggle to consistently do the things we’ve resolved to do in the new year, I think it’s still a good practice to set personal goals. It gives us something specific to aspire to. It helps us be at least a little more focused than we might be without a goal. As helpful as these goals may be for our health, our finances, our relationship, etc., let’s make sure we’re not neglecting our spiritual lives during this resolution-making season.

Is there some area of your spiritual life that you’re not satisfied with? For instance, do you wish you could spend more time reading Scripture this year? If so, resolve to do it. Decide that you’re going to read at least one verse a day, or one chapter, or whatever amount you think you can consistently read. Or, as another example, do you wish you could have a more consistent practice of prayer this year? If so, resolve to do it. Decide that you’re going to spend a moment praying every morning when you wake up, or every night before you go to sleep, or every day right before you eat lunch, or whatever schedule makes sense for you. Whatever part of your spiritual life you want to take more seriously this year, resolve right now to do it. 

If you fall off the wagon with these practices and end up skipping a day or two, don’t beat yourself up. And for heaven’s sake don’t give up altogether! Just start again, right then and there. Remember, we don’t do spiritual things in order to earn God’s love or forgiveness. Christ accomplished complete forgiveness and perfect holiness for us with his sinless life, his death, and his glorious resurrection. We receive the benefits of his work by simple faith in him. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). The reason we do spiritual things is to help us grow closer to God and become more and more like Jesus. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).

Let’s all resolve to do something this year that will help us increasingly “bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Cor. 15:49), Christ Jesus. If I can be of any help to you on your spiritual journey, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. God put me here to help you be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). It’s an honor and a privilege to be your pastor.

Dr. Nick McRae
Senior Pastor, First United Methodist Church of Decatur