It's a New Year!

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”      Philippians 3:13-14

Greetings!

Can you believe we only have one week left in January? Time sure goes by quickly.

My mom used to say, “The older we get, the faster time seems to go.”

That is so true. When our children are in the car for a trip, they constantly ask, “How much longer?” It seems like forever to them. But as I get older, how fast the years go by.

Now here we are in the year 2026.

I wonder what you think about New Years resolutions.

I like them, although I refer to them as goals.

Some people don’t like them. Maybe they feel regret over last year's resolutions that they didn’t keep. I get that. I read that most resolutions don’t make it past January 9th. Wow, 9 days? I can see the discouragement from that point of view.

But for me, I see resolutions as goals. The New Year is a new beginning.

I can start fresh.

I love the part of the verse above that says, “Forgetting what is behind,..”

We can’t let our past shortcomings keep us from moving ahead.

So I set goals for myself. 

Some are related to physical things such as diet and

exercise. Those two are probably the most common resolutions.

But what about other areas in our lives?

What about spiritual goals?

I want to study the Bible more…to grow as a believer, to spread Jesus’s love 

to others through my words and actions.

Are any of these easy goals? Nope. If they were it would not be on my list of goals. I appreciate that after the verse says, “To forget what is behind,”

(all our shortcomings) it says to “...strain toward what is ahead.”

Just the fact that it uses the word strain, tells me it isn’t easy.

The resolutions that we make will take a lot of effort and prayer.

If they were simple, we would have already accomplished them.

But wiping the slate clean, and setting goals, gives me direction for the year.

We also need to set realistic goals. If I haven't been exercising, I don’t set my goal to run a marathon. I would never set that goal…I’m not a runner.

I can set a goal to walk more each day, or do an exercise video.

Spiritually speaking, I can set aside time each day to pray and read my Bible.

Really, this is the most important goal for me. Pressing into my relationship with the Lord helps me balance the other areas of my life as well.

Also, if you miss the mark today, don’t beat yourself up.

“Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it…yet.”

(Anne of Green Gables)

So whatever your resolutions are, make them realistic, then pray and press on with a clean slate during this year that we are given.

Praying we all draw closer to Jesus.

Blessings on you and Yours!