the New Year's Resolution.
We make unwritten amendments to the constitution of our lives, using these resolutions as springboards for our will power. We make new rules for ourselves, things that we know will be good for us and for our health and for those around us. But where does this odd custom come from? Well, I don't know the history, nor am I concerned with that part of the story. I am much more concerned with the more inward allure of the resolutions we make for ourselves. I think that the elemental reason for New Year's resolutions is the hope that only comes with newness.
The same hope comes each time the sun rises in the East--every day is a new day. The idea is that we are free in that newness, free from the past and all of our mistakes and failures and bad habits. New Year's Resolutions help us to draw a line (albeit a line in the sand--a wholly arbitrary line), a line that separates us from what was, so that we can start new.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1
The irony in this is that freedom comes from discipline. We need new rules, or resolutions, in order to free us from former habits. We need new rules before new behaviors can become the norm, can become habit. Our culture today, however, resists rules--even when the fruit of those rules is so rewarding. Jesus knew we needed new rules to replace the old ones, before we could taste freedom, which was why he offered us his yoke:
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:29-30
We so often think of freedom in a vacuum, forgetting that being a slave to one's self is not freedom at all. Our actions (even some of the ones we choose!) are not decided upon in a vacuum. Instead, we are bombarded with all sorts of influences--upon our conscious and sub-conscious selves. Freedom, therefore, is not just being able to do what we "want" to do. More than that, freedom is the ability to actively decide what our actions and habits will be. Freedom is the opportunity to change, and the ability to change in deliberate ways. Freedom is self-discipline.
What we so often lack is self-dicipline. The ability to set limits for ourselves, to rule ourselves. We can take our lesson from the ascetics (although creating an entirely disciplined life apart from the world is going to the other extreme and is not a way of living in the world). Spiritual disciplines are not just to practice being religious. Rather, these disciplines are meant to bring wholeness and health to every aspect of life--physical, mental, emotional, interpersonal and, yes, spiritual. Regular worship, meditation, devotion, prayer and service, all of these things benefit us in just so many ways. They help free us from our habits by helping us to see that we are more than merely the sum of our habits. They help us realize that we are human and beloved and that we have been gifted with free will. Many people consider these things to be law, and they are since we are supposed to do these things. But many, because these are laws, resist doing them.
Jesus Christ can offer you the freedom that comes with newness. Jesus Christ is the source of renewal, in fact. And so when you make your New Year's Resolutions this year, make them spiritual disciplines that will keep on giving. In fact, just make some New Year's resolutions--that, in and of itself, is a spiritual discipline, strengthening the will, and therefore strengthening the Spirit in you.
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:29-30
We so often think of freedom in a vacuum, forgetting that being a slave to one's self is not freedom at all. Our actions (even some of the ones we choose!) are not decided upon in a vacuum. Instead, we are bombarded with all sorts of influences--upon our conscious and sub-conscious selves. Freedom, therefore, is not just being able to do what we "want" to do. More than that, freedom is the ability to actively decide what our actions and habits will be. Freedom is the opportunity to change, and the ability to change in deliberate ways. Freedom is self-discipline.
What we so often lack is self-dicipline. The ability to set limits for ourselves, to rule ourselves. We can take our lesson from the ascetics (although creating an entirely disciplined life apart from the world is going to the other extreme and is not a way of living in the world). Spiritual disciplines are not just to practice being religious. Rather, these disciplines are meant to bring wholeness and health to every aspect of life--physical, mental, emotional, interpersonal and, yes, spiritual. Regular worship, meditation, devotion, prayer and service, all of these things benefit us in just so many ways. They help free us from our habits by helping us to see that we are more than merely the sum of our habits. They help us realize that we are human and beloved and that we have been gifted with free will. Many people consider these things to be law, and they are since we are supposed to do these things. But many, because these are laws, resist doing them.
Jesus Christ can offer you the freedom that comes with newness. Jesus Christ is the source of renewal, in fact. And so when you make your New Year's Resolutions this year, make them spiritual disciplines that will keep on giving. In fact, just make some New Year's resolutions--that, in and of itself, is a spiritual discipline, strengthening the will, and therefore strengthening the Spirit in you.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17
