Another New Year’s Resolution
What am I going to write regarding New Years that you would even remotely care about? Seriously, it has all been done before. Each year they trot out the “Ten Best…” of whatever. We are told how to make and keep New Year’s Resolutions and how to pick ourselves up after we have failed to keep our resolutions. We will be bombarded with advice and tips and tricks for all of this. So, here we are…another New Year…one more “Top Ten” list…another resolution to make.
All of this thinking got me thinking. What if I could give you one thing you could do this year that might just make everything else easier? This idea is really simple, but not at all easy to do. This idea will require you to unlearn some of the things you already know and replace it with different information. But, if you can get past that, it may just change all of the other stuff you are doing. For example, (I cannot believe I am doing this!) here is a list of the “Top Ten Resolutions”: More time with family, get in shape, lose weight, quit smoking, enjoy life more, quit drinking, get out of debt, help others and get organized. You probably fit in there somewhere, right? I know I do.
What is that one thing that will make it easier? Accepting how much God loves you. Wait, don’t quit reading. How many of us are defined by the job we do? Lots of us think we are what we do. We are identified by our job or profession. We get our sense of worth and value as a human being by the pats on the back and the praise of customers, bosses or parishioners. We struggle and strive to do a good job and it is never enough. There are lots of us who get our identity from the things we own. We have a great house, cool car, take great vacations all because that is how we measure our worth and value. Some of us work so hard for things that we think will make our lives more enjoyable that we don’t enjoy them because we are working so hard at getting these things. Some feel the pressure of all of it and drink and eat or just veg out. Bleak, eh?
I can hear you ask, “What’s love got to do with it?” Love has everything to do with it. It isn’t a second hand emotion…sorry. God loves you with an everlasting love. It is unshakable. God doesn’t love you only when you do the right things. God’s love is steadfast and true. The Apostle Paul has a great description of God’s love: It is patient and kind, not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs.
If we truly understand God’s love, we don’t need stuff to make us feel better. We don’t need booze or food or sex or money or a title or anything to make us feel better. All of those things are temporary. When we recognize and accept the love God has for us, we are free from what anyone else thinks about us. We don’t need things to make us anyone because we are already someone in God’s eyes. We are already loved perfectly and completely by God. And, since God is unchanging, we don’t have to worry about God changing God’s mind.
Since we don’t have to work so hard for things to make us feel better about ourselves, we are free to enjoy life and spend more time with the family. We can get out of debt because we don’t need to keep up with Joneses. We can help others because we know that God will take care of us. We can do almost everything on the list (I am still waiting to get organized!) when we fall in love with God like God is in love with us. There are a lot of great churches to help you on your journey to better understand God’s love for you. Why not start the New Year off right and fall in love with God? It will change your life, I promise.