2. Where does new year resolution come from?
● 4,000 BC the ancient Babylonians
● mid-March, when the crops were planted
● 12-day religious festival known as Akitu
3. Next the Romans
● Reform-minded emperor Julius Caesar tinkered with
the calendar(46 B.C.) and established January 1
● January was named after Janus, the Roman god of
beginnings and transitions
4. Should Christians celebrate?
● Nothing mystical occurs at midnight on December 31.
● The Bible does not speak for or against the concept of
New Year’s resolutions.
● However, if a Christian determines to make a New
Year’s resolution, what kind of resolution should he or
she make?
5. What sort of New Year’s resolution should a Christian
make?
Common New Year’s resolutions are:
● quit smoking
● to stop drinking
● to manage money more wisely
● to spend more time with family.
By the most common New Year’s resolution is to “lose
weight”, in conjunction with exercising more and eating more
healthily.
6. These are all good goals to set. However, 1 Timothy 4:8
instructs us to keep exercise in perspective:
1 Timothy 4:8 ASV
“for bodily exercise is profitable for a little; but godliness
is profitable for all things, having promise of the life
which now is, and of that which is to come.”
7. 1 Samuel 16:6-7 NIV
“When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought,
“Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his
appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The
Lord does not look at the things people look at. People
look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the
heart.””
8. ● The vast majority of New Year’s resolutions,
even among Christians, are in relation to
physical things.
● I would urge you to reconsider this mind set.
9. Many Christians make New Year’s resolutions:
● to pray more
● to read the Bible every day
● to attend church more regularly
● to tithe regularly
● cut out secular music
10. These are fantastic goals. However, these New
Year’s resolutions fail just as often as the non-
spiritual resolutions, because there is no power in a
New Year’s resolution.
11. Resolving to start or stop doing a certain activity has no
value unless you have the proper motivation for stopping
or starting that activity.
For example, what is your reasoning to read the Bible
every day? Is it to honor God and grow spiritually, or is it
because you think that it is what good Christians do?
12. Why do you want to lose weight?
● Is it to honor God with your body?
● Treat your body as a temple and taking care of it?
● Or is it for vanity, to honor yourself?
13. Psalms 28:6-7 NIV
“Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in
him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with
my song I praise him.”
14. Psalms 28:8-9 NIV
“The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of
salvation for his anointed one. Save your people and bless
your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them
forever.”
15. John 15:1-3 NIV
““I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He
cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while
every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will
be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of
the word I have spoken to you.”
16. John 15:4 NIV
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can
bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can
you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
17. John 15:5-6 NIV
““I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me
and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you
can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a
branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches
are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
18. John 15:7-8 NIV
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask
whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to
my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be my disciples.”
19. Is God behind your New Year's resolution?
● If God is the center of your New Year’s resolution, it
has chance for success, depending on your
commitment to it.
● If it is God’s will for something to be fulfilled, He will
enable you to fulfill it.
● If a resolution is not God-honoring and/or is not in
agreement with God’s Word, we will not receive God’s
help in fulfilling the resolution.
20. So, what sort of New Year’s resolution should a Christian make?
Here are six suggestions to help you pick your resolution(s):
(1) pray to the Lord for wisdom (James 1:5) regarding what
resolutions, if any, He would have you make
James 1:5 NIV
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives
generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
21. (2) pray for wisdom on how to fulfill the goals God gives
you;
Luke 14:28, 30 NIV
““Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you
first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have
enough money to complete it? saying, ‘This person began
to build and wasn’t able to finish.’”
22. (3) rely on God’s strength to help you;
Philippians 4:13 KJV
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me.”
23. (4) find an accountability partner who will help you and
encourage you;
“A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother
knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the
presence of God in the reality of the other person. As long as I
am by myself in the confession of my sins, everything remains in
the clear, but in the presence of a brother, the sin has to be
brought into the light.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
24. (5) don’t become discouraged with occasional failures;
instead, allow them to motivate you further;
Psalms 37:23-24 NIV
“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights
in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the
Lord upholds him with his hand.”
25. (6) don’t become proud or vain, but give God the glory.
Psalms 37:5-6 NIV
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will
do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like
the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.”
26. Alter Time
"Lord Jesus,
I thank you that you are with me, that you are in me.
Resolutions might come in one year and go out the
other. Open my ears this year, so that I can hear you
and enjoy you at every junction, when you tell me to
turn right or left. Amen."
-Pete Briscoe, Experiencing Life Today
27. Closing…
What type of New Year’s resolution are you going to
make this year?
Will you let God guide you in your decision?
