In all the busyness of this time of year have you managed to set time aside to draft out a few New Year’s resolutions?
While many people don’t believe in making resolutions I reckon that any time that we can sit down and take stock of our lives and make plans for the time ahead is time well spent. If you haven’t yet, maybe you’ll get some time over the next couple of days.
As with every year I’m sure that many will set all the usual resolutions about losing weight, getting fitter, quitting smoking, reducing debt, increasing income and all the rest. There’s nothing wrong with examining those areas of our lives but I’m wondering how it would be if we shifted focus. Many of the goals we hear about at this time of year are about a better ‘me’.
[bctt tweet=”What would 2016 look like if our goals and resolutions went beyond creating a better ‘me’?”]
I wonder what 2016 would look like if we made resolutions and goals about improving relationships with those close to us. I have goals about fitness and better nutrition but how I treat others and practical steps towards growing relationships are far more important. That shouldn’t mean that those other goals don’t matter but it does come down to priorities.
I wonder how things would be if we made resolutions about helping those we may not even know but who need a hand up. What if we made 2016 the year that we would seek to more fully understand the deep needs of others and then partner with them in a way that would move us all a little closer to what we were designed to become? Do we really just want to focus on making life better for ourselves and those we know or can we extend that concern and care a little more widely?
How would 2016 shape up if we determined that family was more important than the demands of work and then structured our schedules accordingly? I wonder how 2016 would look if we took our fresh new diaries, whether they be electronic or the old pen and paper kind, and scheduled in chunks of family time before the hours filled up with work appointments.
What would it be like if we decided that 2016 was the year that we would look beyond the physical and material things of this world to discover deeper spiritual meaning? Our lives are so short and each year seems to go so much faster than the previous. There’s value in giving attention to the ‘here and now’ but not if we do that without keeping eternity in mind.
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 ESV
Interesting that we’re told to train ourselves in godliness. Training ourselves suggests a directed effort on our part. If we’re going to direct attention to anything in our lives, doesn’t it simply make sense to direct it to things that are of value in every way, holding promise for the present life and also for the life to come?
I wonder.
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