New Years Resolutions

You may already have your new years resolutions all planned out, or perhaps you don’t have any this year because you know they just don’t work for you.  I don’t know what yours might be, I do know though that in a 2010 survey in the US they found that over 88% of new years resolutions were focused on ‘how you look’.  To get fit, to stay fit, to lose weight, to get buff…  I would suspect New Zealand is not much different.  These are not necessarily bad things;

It’s just that if your focus is on how you look, not who you are, you’re missing something.

For the first time this year I only have one resolution, and it’s a simple one.  In 2012, I will take a block of time every week to honestly and openly assess where I’m at in three areas.  The questions I will start with are:

1. Am I growing as a follower of Jesus? Am I reading the book God wrote? Am I trusting him?
2. Am I loving my wife well? Am I serving her well? Is she flourishing in our marriage?
3. Am I nurturing my children well? Am I a Godly example? Are they thriving under my leadership?

They are in order, if for no other reason than this, I don’t for a moment think I can do them any other way.

Without a close and fun relationship with Jess I can’t be the father I want to be, and without Jesus example, I can’t begin to love her the way he calls me to, ‘like he loves the church’.  He gave up his life. Often us men try to blame our wives for our bad behaviour; ‘if you’d just dropped it I wouldn’t of lost my temper’, ‘if you weren’t such a nag I wouldn’t need to go out drinking’ etc.  Truth is though, marriage doesn’t make a guy bad, it just exposes him.

As being a husband and a dad exposes the true me this year, my only goal and hope is that the me that is exposed would be more and more loving, kind, generous, patient and encouraging.

Are you making resolutions this year?  Have they worked for you in the past?