Confessions of a Pessimist

I didn’t make any New Year’s Resolutions this year. Not a single one.

I didn’t make any, not because I don’t need to make any improvements (because I do), or because I don’t like setting goals. I didn’t make any resolutions because I am a pessimist.

I’ve had years of experience making New Year’s resolutions that I would break just a few weeks later. I decided to save myself the trouble this year and just not aspire to anything!

Maybe you’re more optimistic than I am (which is a good thing) and you did set some New Year’s Resolutions. How are they going? Did you know that statistically this is about the time of year that most people break their New Year’s Resolutions? Are you one of the brave few who is determined to keep on going? Or have you reached your limit and broken your resolutions?

Perhaps I’m not so much a pessimist as I am a realist. I most likely would have given up on my resolutions by now. The truth is, I cannot be faithful to keep my own resolutions. I don’t have enough resolve, determination, or discipline within myself and I never will. This is because, at the core of who I am, I am a sinner.

I will never have enough resolve in and of myself to stick to the latest fad diet, because I idolize food and turn to it for comfort.

I will never have enough determination in and of myself to work out for an hour each day, every day of the week because I am weak and lazy and I give in to how I’m feeling in the moment.

I will never have enough discipline in and of myself to perfectly stick to my daily chore schedule because I am selfish and put my own needs above my duty to my family.

The problem is, I go to bed on December 31 struggling mightily with these sins and expect to wake up a completely transformed person on January 1. I expect that, because it’s the start of a new year and I have a new plan, those sins that I caved into in December will somehow, miraculously, be non-existent in January.

The problem is: I am trying to be my own savior.

Every Day is New Year’s Day

But because of Jesus I have hope that change and self-improvement will come, by His grace. Because of Jesus, I am even now, being saved from my sinfulness. And I hold fast to this hope that I profess because I know, that even if I’m not faithful, He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23).

Here’s the truth about New Year’s Day: when you are in Christ, every day is New Year’s Day. Every day is a chance to start all over.  As it says in the book of Lamentations:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

-Lamentations 3:22-24

We cannot save ourselves, but Jesus can save us. He saved us by dying on the cross for those sins with which we struggle. And he rose again, victorious over those sins. This salvation that comes from Christ is not simply a one-time deal. You were saved in the past when you believed in Jesus, you are being saved in the present when you repent and ask Him to rid you of your sin, and you will be saved completely and perfectly one day when He comes back again and takes you with Him to heaven.

Because of this ongoing salvation, we can treat every day as New Year’s Day. By His grace, we can set our goals and make our plans for each day. By His grace, we can fall to our knees and ask for His help when we are unable to stick to our plans and goals. And by His grace, we can receive His forgiveness and trust that He is doing a mighty work in our hearts so that the sins we struggle with today might not be such a struggle for us down the road.

The thing I’ve learned about transformation is that it rarely happens overnight. Expecting to be a completely different person on January 1 than I was on December 31 is unrealistic. But when I submit myself to God and resist the devil, when I draw near to God, cleanse my hands, purify my heart, and humble myself before him- he will exalt me (James 4:7) and He will slowly and steadily change my heart to look more like His . Today, on January 26, I cannot look back to Dec. 31 and see a great change in myself. But when I look back on the person I was 5 or 10 years ago, I can see how powerfully God has worked in my life and heart to bring me to where I am today.

Moving Forward

So even if you did fail at keeping your resolutions or if, like me, you didn’t bother to set any – take heart! His mercies are new every morning! If you are determined to see change within yourself, here are some tips for moving forward:

Plan with Prayer

Prayerfully consider what goals to set for yourself. We don’t want to fall into the thinking that God will automatically bless whatever plans we come up with just because we think they’re what’s best for us. We need to ask God to align our will with His and give us wisdom and direction in making our resolutions.

Resist the Devil – Obey

It’s tempting to think that because heart change ultimately rests with God, we can simply sit around and wait for Him to do His work. But our role is not a passive one. We are commanded to resist the devil and obey God. The good news is that God gives us everything we need in order to obey Him. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul tells us that God always provides a way to escape temptation. If we disobey, it’s not because we weren’t able to obey, it’s because we chose not to.

Take Baby Steps

If transformation is a gradual process, then it makes sense that life-altering resolutions are hard to sustain for the long run. We tend to be more successful when we make smaller more reasonable resolutions. I am more likely to stick to an exercise schedule if I start out exercising 5 minutes a day rather than 60 minutes. If I want to see a change in my diet, making healthy changes to one meal at a time might be more sustainable rather than trying to stick to a strict diet. By making small, relatively easy changes over long periods of time, we are setting ourselves up to be more successful for the long haul.

Repent

Failure is inevitable, but it doesn’t need to be a major roadblock. Failure is simply a reminder that we cannot make these changes on our own and we shouldn’t try. We need to see failure as an opportunity to go before God, ask for his forgiveness, and plead with Him to help us. Real transformation starts on our knees.

Be In Community

1 John 1:7 says “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” Transformation comes from walking in the light and having fellowship with one another. God created us to be in community with one another: to support each other, to hold each other accountable, and to lovingly direct each other when we’ve gone astray. You will be most successful at accomplishing your resolutions if you invite others onto the journey with you. Going to church and finding other Christians to guide and support you is a crucial step to accomplishing your goals. We were never meant to journey through life alone.

If you’ve come to this time of the year feeling defeated because you could not keep your resolutions, there is still hope! It doesn’t need to be January 1, Sunday evening, or even early morning for you to start making small changes that will help you as you endeavor to walk with your Savior. You can start today, even right now. God’s grace is for every moment, including this one. You cannot live in the regret of the past or the anxiety of the future, but you have the present, this very moment to obey and do what God is calling you to do. So make your plans, set some goals and then honor God through every success and failure knowing that, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6)“.