Stop! Do not do it! Please do not make a New Year’s resolution. New Year’s resolutions do not last and we typically do not follow through with them. Almost half of Americans make a New Year’s resolution and only 8 percent of them actually keep them. New Year’s resolutions are really a waste of time and something not really intended to be permanent. If we truly want to change anything in our lives to make things better, we would be better off asking God to help us change the way we think.

ROMANS 12:1-2

1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?

2Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

NLT

We will have much better success if we allow God, through the Bible, to begin to change the way we think by renewing our minds. The word renewing in this verse means there is a “constant action taking place” that never stops. God is always working on us to help change the way we think. It is not just a onetime quick fix; it is something that takes place repeatedly. We give ourselves to God once, but we need to transform and renew our minds constantly.

In 2 Kings Chapters 22 and 23, we read that King Josiah was a man who sought after God. However, his life changed when God’s Word was rediscovered. He called the people to a renewed covenant before God (see 2 Kings 23:3). God moved through Josiah to crush the wickedness of his country like a hurricane crumbles houses as if they were made out of toothpicks.

If we want to be successful on a new diet or getting rid of a bad habit that we have, then we really need God to help us. The best thing for us to do is develop new habits in our lives, so we receive the desired results we are looking to get. Making a New Year’s resolution is us thinking there is always a way out, or it is OK if we fail. However, allowing God to change the way we think is the beginning of us starting something new that we are going to be doing for the rest of our lives. In order for us to change things in our lives, we have to change the way we live our lives. In order to change the way we live our lives, we have to change the way we think. In order for us to change the way we think, we need God to help us make our changes permanent and not temporary.

Please do not make a New Year’s resolution. Instead, allow God to change the way you think for results that last a lifetime.

Pastor Tony Guadagnino

Christian Love Fellowship Church