Resolution is:
a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.
So what are your new year resolutions? Do you believe in making some? And if you did make some, are you still following them, 16 days into January?
My new years resolutions are:
1. To grow in faith, by keeping a thankfulness journal and keeping track of lessons God is teaching me.
2. To live more like Christ, which is to be more gentle, more loving, more forgiving, and more understanding of other people around me.
3. To seek Gods will for my life. What does God want me to accomplish this year? What does He want me to do?
4. To worry less, and trust God more. To learn with each problem, with each gray cloud in my life to see a ray of sunshine, and to learn that God provides for me.
I don't make resolutions to get thinner, to eat less sweets, to love my husband better, to not be grouchy, to spend quality time with my children, to read them more books, to spend some time outside- and less time inside, to have a cleaner house, to organize more, to spend less money, to be kind to all people.... no I don't make those kind of resolutions, because those things are just everyday things that I strive to do anyway. I don't count them as resolutions. I count them as my everyday life necessities. If I don't happen to accomplish something, I don't stress about it. Nothing in this life is worth stressing about. Nothing except what will affect our eternal life. If something does affect how or where my eternity will be spent, then I would try to change it and if it affects where my children will spend eternity. We cant really predict how our children will live their life, and if they will be saved. But as long as I parent my children to my best ability, pray for them, and trust God to lead them to his kingdom, then everything should be fine.
There are so many stress triggers in life, we tend to worry so much. Finances, health, mortgage, work, marriage, children. It all spins into one big circle of constant worry. By learning to give your worry to God this year and for Him to carry all the stress for you, and to take care of it for you is a huge step to take. We usually try to fix the problems ourselves. We try a lot of different options to solve it, sometimes after many tries we finally give up, and not knowing what else to do, we turn to God. Wont it be much easier if we learn to come to God as soon as we see the problem emerging on the horizon? People say that its easy to say that when you are not in the middle of a problem. I agree with those people its much easier to say it when I am not surrounded by unknown fear, gasping breath, and the darkness around my heart and soul. The only beauty in suffering is that when we go through the valley of tears we have a choice to grow, or a choice to fall apart, and die (mentally). We either choose to hold on to the strong hand of God, or we walk alone, relying on our own meek strength.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love
has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit,
who has been given to us. ~~ Romans 5
