Continuing our discussion on New Year's resolutions and how we utterly fail at them at the time, Wesley, Jordan, and TJ ask the question: are all resolutions doomed to failure?

The answer they come to is simple: Yes. That is if we are trying to better ourselves by our own might and our own strength.

The fact is that if we want to truly better ourselves, we have to understand a few things about ourselves and, more importantly, a few things about God.

In ourselves we lack the ability to truly better ourselves. Even if we were to master some skill or quit some habit, we would take undue pride in the fact we were able to do it in ourselves and thus create a new weakness in our hearts. We may also fall into legalism and not discern the difference between legalism (something that grieves the Spirit of God) and discipline (something He commands).

No matter how many resolutions you have failed in, there is hope. If Jesus Himself was fully dependent on the Holy Spirit, why would we ever think we don't have to?

In this thought, the team discusses Romans 8:5-8 in an attempt to understand our greatest resolution, focusing more on and understanding better, the person of the Holy Spirit.

So what about you? How are you going to be more reliant on the Holy Spirit this year? What plans do you have in place to practice more spiritual discipline? How do you avoid legalism in pursuing the spiritual disciplines? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page.