Goals and Resolutions Anyone? A Case for Resolutions: Is it just me or are people generally avoiding making New Year resolutions? It's disappointing to me that people seem younger now when they begin to respond: "What's the point? I'll fail anyway."

Let me invite you to reconsider for reasons like these:

1. Room for Improvement: Resolutions acknowledge room for improvement in our lives. Hopefully that includes us all if we want to make the world a better place as most of us say we do.

2. Strength and Courage through Dependence on the Lord: It's certainly easier to "float down the river and see where the New Year takes us". More strength and courage however is needed to put our shoulder to the harness and help shape the future in a dark and needy world. Both tend to increase our dependence upon the Lord, again a desire expressed by those who follow Christ.

There are two primary directions to seek a better world: one is to become a better person, the other is to pursue goals to make a better world.

An example of the first direction might be to read a chapter of the Bible daily, reign in a sharp tongue, or take a course which will help get a raise or better job.

Examples of the second might be to take the missional challenge, invest in the life of a boy or young man without a father in his life, adopt a needy family or village in a developing nation or start a new disciple-making community. 

There are of course countless examples and the point isn't to prioritize the above but to hear and respond to the guidance of God's Holy Spirit. As I've sought to do so over the years I've asked the Lord, "Father, how do You want to use the unique bundle of gifts, strengths and weaknesses that I am, next year for Your glory?" Then I listen, think, and write down what I believe the Lord would have me focus on the next year. I also jot down the steps I expect will be involved in those goals or activities.

The value of focusing on the target: Writing all this down is important to me because I forget and fail. But a lapse or failure is not the end of the goal or resolution for two reasons. Let's use a simple example in which I want to loose 10 lbs but break the resolution by eating two desserts one day. Should I give up and declare my failure and never try again? No, because the goal is still a worthy one and because I can still choose not to eat two desserts tomorrow, or the next day.

The same is true of all goals and resolutions. If we aim for the bull's-eye on a target (e.g. lose 10 lbs or read a new book a month) but place the arrow in the 2nd or 3rd ring outside the bull's-eye (e.g. lose 7 lbs or read 7 instead of 12 books next year), it is still far better than missing the target altogether (e.g. losing no weight or reading nothing) or shooting the opposite direction (e.g. gaining 10 lbs. or watching more television).

Pursuing multiple goals for the year: Let me suggest also that you consider goals in several important arenas of life. You may want to set a goal or two in areas such as the following:

• your spiritual life (more)

• your marriage (or significant other)

• investing in the lives of your children (if any)

• educational goals (formal schooling or informal reading)

• financial goals (more)

• mission or ministry goals

When Carol and I led marriage enrichment weekends, we invited couples to use a simple tool like this "goal wheel" (in PDF).

Resolutions for Life: To this point we've been focusing on resolutions towards goals for the New Year. Let me invite us to go a step further. Resolutions don't need to be written on New Year's Day or to end a year later. You can write resolutions and add to them any day of your life. What do I mean?

You may resolve today to encourage others and not criticise them. An excellent resolution. (Might you fail? Of course. Will God forgive? Of course. Will the resolution still be valid the day after you do? Of course.) Tomorrow or next week you may have an experience that prompts you to add a resolution to read the daily reading of a devotional book. Mark your addition with the date. Later you may add the resolution to read your resolutions the first of each month or each January 1. Mark that addition also with the date and continue until you feel you've shaped the most important contours of your life. (For a remarkable example click here.)

Only one thing more ... to give a context and guidance to narrow your goals or resolutions you may want to consider writing a life-mission statement.

It is up to us. Seize the day! Take a moment to listen to this challenge and invitation wonderfully expressed in song by Carolyn Arends ... (in WMV).