Resolutions for the New Year

Are you the type of person who makes new year’s resolutions?

If so… how long do you keep them?

According to a study in 2007, 88% of those who make new year’s resolutions fail. I would imagine that number is not much different for 2011… Nor will it be that much different for 2012. It seems to me that new year’s resolutions are just made to be broken, at least according to almost 90% of Americans.

Why is this the case? Why do we so easily break the commitments we make to ourselves?

Although I don’t have “official” research on the answer, I can assume that the main reason our resolutions are broken is that we don’t commit the time needed to make any change in our lives. But do we really have the time?

Our schedules are so “packed” with work, family, sports, piano lessons, karate, meetings, golf, zumba, TV shows, etc, etc, etc… Where in the world would you even fit any commitment to something like… say… spiritual growth?

Most of us would agree that becoming more disciplined in our spirituality is something we desire. But how can we fit in spiritual activity into our already hectic lives?

Let me be clear on one thing… spirituality cannot be one more task piled on top of people already overburdened and overcommitted. The call of the spiritual life is not to more frantic activity. The spiritual life is rather the call to peace. Meaning that as we come to walk more closely with God, the chaos should recede from our lives.

Here’s a thought to ponder… If you are overextended, you are under committed. We should take the idea of “commitment” so seriously that we cannot be “truly” committed to thirty different things. So, if you are overextended it’s virtually guaranteed that you’re under committed.

Deep spirituality is not a matter of doing more stuff… It’s more a matter of defining our true commitment (to Christ)… and walking in a relationship with him.

So, spirituality is not just about praying more, reading the Bible more, studying more, etc, etc, etc… It’s about walking with Christ, and making that a priority in your life.

That’s a resolution worth making.