Bible Verse Resolution Challenge

Out of all the clichés holidays bring, I have to admit the one I am a sucker for is the making of a new year's resolution.  I love beginnings, fresh starts, the sense of another chance, and the hope of a brighter future.  Like a makeover, I feel a new year brings the idea of a new improved self, and a resolution is the "after" picture to take once the makeover is complete.  I understand a lot of people don't like resolutions because they are hard to keep.  We are creatures of habit, after all, and we do not care for the feelings of regret.  So, why set ourselves up for failure?

The reasons why resolutions don't succeed is because we are working on the completely wrong thing.  To be more organized, to lose weight, to do something more charitable, to drink more water, to budget better, and so on and so on are all wonderful aspirations because we know they will improve ourselves.  The thing is, though, they are difficult to achieve.  Even though we try to eat better, spend less money, drink more water, we aren't working on what we really should be in order to complete our resolution.  We should be working on our hearts.

The reason why we resolve to be better goes deep down.  Our hearts are the ones that need a makeover.  Our hearts need to be deeply connected with Christ, the source of newness, the key to improving ourselves.  His love is transformational, and until we allow His love, His truth, His Word seep deep down into our inmost beings, we will never be able to keep a single resolution.

Therefore, I've decided my new year's resolution is to work on my heart.  To do this, I created a chart to have a different Bible verse each week to inspire me and to keep me focused on this resolution.  Besides the Bible verse, I've included a "to do" list and weekly goals.  I printed this chart out (which [oops] got a little wet), put it in a frame (that I of course had to embellish with buttons and such), and placed it along with some dry erase markers in my room, where I will see it every day.

The first verse this week came to me in a devotion, "Do everything without complaining or arguing" (Philippians 2:14).  What a way to start working on the heart and to start off the year, don't you think?

The end of a year brings comfort, too.  It's like the feeling I get when I close a book I've finished reading.  The accomplishment of making it through the ups and downs of another story.  I love the idea that we all begin a new story of our lives with a new year, and we will now begin marking memories with the year 2014 stamped on them.  Make this year full of memories.  Happy 2014.  Let the makeovers begin!