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Be renewed in a new year
New year resolutions Sunday 30th December 2012 Many people make new year resolutions each year. And many people don’t, often because they don’t want to fail to keep them as they have in the past. There are some interesting statistics about new year resolutions. According to one source, people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions. Along with the usual resolutions such as losing weight, it was great to see that in the USA “Help others in their dreams” ranked within the top ten. Why bother? Should we, or shouldn’t we? that is the question! Or, put more bluntly, why bother? One reason, for Christians, is that we ought to live the new life that is part and parcel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said: If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:24–26) Christians ought to be in the process of being renewed, becoming like the Lord Jesus. It means that we need to put off old sinful ways, and live as we ought to, in holiness. If that renewal isn’t happening, then there is a very big question mark over whether we are Christians at all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12–14, ESV) Why bother with resolutions? Because we need encouraged to keep putting off the old life and putting on the new life, to stop sinning and to live in a way that pleases God. New year resolutions are a great way to ponder how we can make changes, and then commit to seeing those changes put in practice in the coming year.
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By CGCFNew year resolutions Sunday 30th December 2012 Many people make new year resolutions each year. And many people don’t, often because they don’t want to fail to keep them as they have in the past. There are some interesting statistics about new year resolutions. According to one source, people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions. Along with the usual resolutions such as losing weight, it was great to see that in the USA “Help others in their dreams” ranked within the top ten. Why bother? Should we, or shouldn’t we? that is the question! Or, put more bluntly, why bother? One reason, for Christians, is that we ought to live the new life that is part and parcel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said: If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:24–26) Christians ought to be in the process of being renewed, becoming like the Lord Jesus. It means that we need to put off old sinful ways, and live as we ought to, in holiness. If that renewal isn’t happening, then there is a very big question mark over whether we are Christians at all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12–14, ESV) Why bother with resolutions? Because we need encouraged to keep putting off the old life and putting on the new life, to stop sinning and to live in a way that pleases God. New year resolutions are a great way to ponder how we can make changes, and then commit to seeing those changes put in practice in the coming year.