Can you believe it’s only been a couple of weeks since January 1? Me, either!
According to a recent article by Scripps National, at least 75% of Americans planned to either lose weight or save more money in the coming year (https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/these-are-the-top-new-years-resolutions-for-2019).
Were either of these plans on your priority list of things to accomplish in 2019? How are you doing on keeping them?
Well, what happened?
I’ll have to admit, burgers, fries, and pizza all taste better than celery sticks with peanut butter or ranch dressing.
And saving money is really hard if you actually, physically have to deposit or transfer the money into your account. The only way I ever saved money was by direct deposit in a separate institution.
So it’s been a couple of weeks, and you’re feeling discouraged about your floundering resolutions. Old habits die hard, and comfort aids and abets their looming failure.
You can feel for others’ failures, but you beat your own self over the head for failing. And trying to motivate yourself to get back at it is just not working.
Are you type of person who is harder on yourself than you are on others?
That’s a good attitude to have at times. It means you’re only competing with yourself. You’re focused on what you need to do to get to the next level. You’re not upsetting yourself watching others and trying to compete with or hinder them.
You have high standards even while you hurry or hustle. And because you know what you’ve accomplished before and what your goals are, you tend to be more secure, responsible, and proactive.
There’s just a little problem that sometimes comes with this take-charge-of-me attitude: that whole business of condemning and beating yourself up for not completing a goal.
It might have even been a “spiritual” goal. Maybe you wanted to read your Bible every single morning for the rest of the year, but you didn’t this morning. Or last Friday. Now you feel guilty.
Whatever it was you didn’t get or do, you’re now berating yourself. You’ve become obsessed with your alleged failure and what a lost cause you are.
Stop already. There’s no sense in beating yourself up for not reaching a mere goal. God’s not mad at you; why are you mad at yourself?
What you have, what you’ve done, and what you promised to do for yourself—or for God—has no bearing on how much God loves you. He’s not shaking His head and walking away just because you “failed.”
You may have failed in your eyes, but the Lord is the most patient and loving being in the universe. Little ol’ you are not going to wear out His patience.
He still has tasks that are only assigned to you, breakthroughs only you can rejoice over, and dreams for only you to attain. As you humble yourself under the sovereign, loving heart of God, He will give you the grace to accomplish everything He’s called you to do.
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 NASB
It just may not be everything you want to do.
So, what is grace? It has often been described as God’s good will and unearned favor toward us sinful humans.
Grace is more than just His favor. It is also the means of His being able to exert His holy influence upon us, His subjects. This indwelling empowerment enables us to live the Christian life. Click To TweetHowever, grace is more than just His favor. It is also the means of His being able to exert His holy influence upon us, His subjects. This indwelling empowerment enables us to live the Christian life (Blue Letter Bible http://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5485&t=NASB). Note that only those who have humbled themselves before God are able to receive His holy influence within their hearts and upon their lives.
If you have received God’s grace—His favor, desire, and ability to live obediently—be sure to receive it in every part of your heart. That includes the part that wants to beat yourself up for not making each and every single resolution and goal for this year, and every year after this.
Let’s be reasonable here. If the Lord God of Heaven and Earth favors and loves you, is pleased to live inside you, refuses to move out, and is not angry at you, who are you to run from every incomplete goal loathing yourself?
It’s okay for others to mess up, but it’s not okay for you? Others may have grace to mess up their goals and resolutions, but you’re stuck in the mucky pit of “I’ll try harder,” helpless, and without grace?
Unreasonable. That’s the worst kind of double standard.
Look. Jesus died for you because He loved you before you knew He existed. It’s unreasonable to think that His grace was only for saving you but not for your mistakes, inconsistencies, and shortcomings. Even when you don’t make your new year’s resolutions.
Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up! Galatians 3:2–4 MSG
Christ’s single, cut yourself some slack. You’re not a lost cause. Give yourself some grace. “Nobody’s perfect” is neither an excuse nor a criminal confession. It’s just a simple fact of life. It’s pride to think otherwise.
And remind yourself that self-condemnation never motivated anyone to do the right thing for the right reason. Accepting yourself because you are loved and accepted by God is a far better reason to advance on your new year’s resolutions than condemning yourself.
So you went to the gym only one day this year so far? Get up, dust yourself off, pack
your gym clothes, and go back in the next 24 hours.
Read your Bible tonight with a heart grateful for His grace and love. And start over in the morning.
Give yourself the same grace you give others, and that you get from God.
You won’t feel condemned, unmotivated, and incapable of accomplishing your goals and doing anything positive. You’ll feel like a normal, fallible, human being and have just enough mojo to go at it again tomorrow. You’ll probably reach your goals better that way, too. Let’s go!
