5 Reasons New Year's Resolutions Fail
5 Reasons New Year’s Resolutions Fail
New beginnings…..New chapters….The start to a different ending.
Viewing a blank slate that doesn’t have any mistakes on it is either motivating or crippling. Each new year we are gifted a set of 365 days, once the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, but this gift requires us to take actions and make choices.
No action or choice is still a choice!
Most New Year’s Resolutions are determined out of popularity, social groups, or pressure from comparison instead of being unique to the person choosing them. Do you have failed resolutions in the past? I know I failed many years in a row until I learned how to uniquely choose my resolutions based on what God was telling me HE had already planned for the next year of my life.
“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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”
-Jeremiah 29:11-12
The Bible tells us that we were each chosen and created specifically for a purpose here on earth. God designed each of our personalities, talents, desires, and drive with a specific recipe because He was equipping us individually with the particular tools needed to fulfill His purpose for our lives. Since He is the original inventor of our destiny, wouldn’t it be smart to ask Him for the blueprint?
Jeremiah 29:11-12 reminds us that the Lord know the plans for our futures, but verse 12 is how we get to know those plans too. When we spend time daily with him praying and asking Him to guide our decisions and directions He will listen to those prayers and answer them.
God is the creator of all things…even our imaginations! So, those BIG HUGE dreams that seems too big for you. God placed them in your imagination for a reason. Spend time with Him asking direction on how to accomplish those dreams and to remove any parts that are for self gain or just fleshly desires instead of for His will.
“ He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.”
-Isaiah 40:29
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
- 1 Peter 5: 10
Have you ever heard the quote, “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called?” This is because He wants to use us a vessels to reveal His strength to the world. If we could accomplish our calling on our lives with out His strength then why would we depend on Him for anything in our lives at all??
New Year’s Resolutions that require life style changes, renewed mindset, or overcoming fear can’t be done with our own worldly might or strength. When we try to rely on our strength only that’s when the devil conveniently reminds us of all our past failures, mistakes, and anything else to get us to start doubting ourselves.
But, when we choose to rely on God’s strength and the power promised to us through the Holy Spirit that lives inside us, we can tell those thoughts of doubt that even though our worldly strength has failed, our God’s strength NEVER has! You CAN become stronger then the food/alcohol/drug addictions, you CAN become a more patient/calm/peaceful person, you CAN finally more past fear and accomplish the desires of your heart with God/s strength!
Every time we declare God’s strength over our lives we are creating new habits, so our minds will begin to choose His strength first for every choice or decision we make in the future.
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
-Ephesians 4:31-32
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
-Isaiah 43:18-19
Our past can become chains that hold us back from experiencing the best God has for our future if we don’t let certain things go. Past hurts, failures, pain, and baggage can all be the voices in our minds telling us that our lives will always be the same ways. But, that’s not the truth or what God has for our future. Isaiah 43:18-19 says God is doing a NEW THING. We just have to have the faith to trust God with our past and allow Him to heal those broken places, so our future can be made new.
Asking God to help us forgive, let go, and move forward from our past hurt ignites His supernatural power to begin healing our hearts. Allowing God to work on our own hearts can be so freeing. The weight and bondage of unforgiveness is like quick sand holding you down. The more you try to move and fight while holding a grudge will just cause you to sink farther into depression, angry, and resentment.
Let go of your past and give it to God to heal. He is a chain breaking God that is excited to help you move past your past and into a blessed future!
“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”
-James 3:16
“Let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.”
-Romans 12:6 (MSG)
How boring would the world be if every author wrote their books the exact same way. The exact character line up, exact plot, and exact ending. Well, this is what happens when we compare our lives to others out of jealousy instead of inspiration.
Looking to others who have accomplished greatness as inspiration can be a positive thing, but deciding our story has to be exactly like that person or we won’t be successful is actually negative. Every chapter of our story is unique to our how we accomplish God’s will for our lives. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are referred to as the “Synoptic Gospels” because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical wording, but they are not completely identical because each book is the point of view of the disciple who witnessed the event. The book of John is an even more detailed version of some of the same stories that are in the Synoptic Gospels, but none of the books is exactly the same.
Each of our point of views are based on our own life experience, so stop comparing your life to others because no two people have the exact life experiences. Your voice and point of view is a piece of God’s puzzle that is important, allow your gifts to shine even if they are different from others.
“Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”
-Colossians 2:7
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
-Philippians 1:6
One of my strengths is actually one of my biggest weaknesses…if I wanted to be truly honest.
I love to dream and envision God”s miracles in my life, but I want to move from the envisioning step to the completion step simultaneously. The middle part is actually where God molds me and shapes me into the person I need to be to actually hold onto and appreciate the God miracle once I get it.
Some of the things God helps me with during the growth stage is patience, overcoming procrastination, fear of inadequacy, time management and many others. During seasons of growth in my life I remember the story of David and Goliath. Before David had the opportunity to face Goliath, God had him in seasons of growth and discipline. In the wilderness David faced lions and bears that in those seasons seems really scary and even impossible, but he had such a deep rooted relationship with God that he chose to stand up to them and fight.
Once it was time for David to face Goliath he was able to face him with confidence because he had already seen his God show up and help him defeat the lion and bears. He allowed God to use the growth season as preparation for his future instead of giving up.
I want to encourage you to view the season you are currently in as a “growth” season. The difficult boss could be teaching you leadership skills, raising children could be teaching you patience and perseverance, the weight loss journey could be you learning to truth in God’s strength and not your own.
Your New Year’s Resolutions are statements that you are declaring over the next 365 days of your life. Before deciding which resolutions to declare, talk with God and make sure those are His plans for your life.
God can open doors no woman can open and He can shut doors no woman can shut!
