For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:25-26

Time to set Your New Years Resolution! Have you ever set one of those and ACTUALLY followed through with it? Personally I’m going on year 4 of never using a gift bag again and I’m pretty proud of that! Ha! But what about the ones we set to become better people? Let me rephrase that, more impressive people. Let’s be honest, most resolutions are just as much about proving ourselves as they are about health and wellness. We don’t just want to BE healthier, happier, and more well rounded, we want to LOOK healthier, happier, and more well rounded. But the problem isn’t in our resolve to be more or less of anything. The problem is that we are lost in our own self centeredness. We are living on a planet with other lost people that are constantly trying to convince each other that what we’re missing in order to improve our lives is just one healthy habit away. Now obviously our habits can contribute to a physical and emotional part of our health, but there is a spiritual longing that cannot be satisfied within the ranks of “wellness” established by our society here on earth. This is not our final destination and we will never be satisfied with some aspect of life as we know it as long as we’re living under the delusion that we can and will figure out what’s missing every January 1. But those first two weeks of the year looks so promising, don’t they?

I find the verses in Matthew above so comforting because there’s an opportunity to reflect upon what is being said right there in the text. That question is for me! It’s for you! Are we starting off the new year in hopes to gain more of the world? To fit into this world a bit more? To make a mark for our own sake? It’s convicting to think about! We can consider New Years resolutions to be a call to take up our crosses and follow Jesus. To focus on losing our lives for His sake, not improving them for the approval of others. I’m not saying if you make a New Years resolution to take up a new hobby or to lose weight you are wrong, I’m just saying if we are going to partake in the tradition of making declarations of intent for the year, let’s be fixed on finding our lives in Jesus more desirable than what the world has in accolades.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here’s to fighting the good fight in 2020!