4 New Life Resolutions

Every year people make New Year’s Resolutions.  Study after study has shown that very few people actually keep them beyond a few weeks. I don’t know what your particular plans are, but I think the Bible can give us some insight on what God might want all of us to resolve for this new year.

Many Bibles have a heading for Romans 12:9-21 that calls this section “Marks of the Christian” or something like that. I call them “New Life Resolutions.” We have new life in Christ, and new means God calls us, through His power, to live differently than the dark world around us. Romans 12:9-21 is a great summary of some of those things!

Overall we could call these four resolutions, “Live a Life of Love. “

Romans 12:9,21  Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good….21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This section of Romans 12 begins and ends with exhortation toward love and goodness over evil. This may seem obvious, but we talk about this a lot, without many concrete actionable ways to love. Our New Life Resolutions are concrete, actionable ways to love God and love others.

Remember, love in the Bible is a VERB – it is something we do for others, not just warm fuzzies we might feel one day and not the next!

So what would God have us do??

Resolution #1: Live Out the Golden Rule

Romans 12:10, 13-15 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor… 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Golden Rule is shorthand for what Jesus teaches in Matthew 7:12 (and other places) So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Here Paul gives us some ways to do that:

“Showing honor” simply means putting other people; their needs, their feelings, their well-being, ahead of our own. I strongly believe that if every marriage put this principle into action, most would improve 200%! If each spouse put their partner first in everything, marriages would be radically better.

Now v.13 tells us to help others with their physical needs. This is not necessarily money. Two of my friends re-sided my garage (I supplied pizza and sandwiches). Another friend who is mechanically inclined rebuilt a truck for my oldest daughter. My friend, Rich, came over and replaced my water heater. I have let numerous people stay at our house. I snow blow my elderly neighbors’ sidewalks. Helping others with actual physical needs is love in action.

“Hospitality” in v.13 is the Greek word philoxenos which means “love of strangers.” When we extend our meeting of needs to people we do not even know, we are really living like Jesus! Give that guy at the corner by Target in old army jacket a fiver. Invite someone you barely know from your neighborhood over for dessert and coffee.

Then v.14 tells us to extend our loving to those who do not show us love, but may even seek to do us some harm, particularly if that harm is related to our faith in Jesus. I have a neighbor who is not too fond of me, but last year experienced a tragedy. I have taken every opportunity I can to do nice things for him….not out of spite, or gloating, but attempting to show love.

Finally in this section, v.15 tells us to identify with other people who are either celebrating something good or suffering from something bad. This is the opposite of gloating. When the person at your office who really irritates you gets promoted, love him or her and celebrate it! When that same person suffers a loss, extend sympathy and love.

None of these are difficult, but you have to decide to live and love like Jesus did.

Resolution #2: Stay Christ-Centered

Romans 12:11-12 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

In our dark world, where so many people are out for themselves, or just believe the worst about you, about God, or about everything no matter what, you have to stay centered on something or you will get dragged away with all the negativity!

Stay focused on Christ. Zeal in the Bible is the idea of having a strong desire for something. Fervent means taking strong action about something, and we should all be zealous and fervent about Jesus!

How might you ask? Well the next verse tells us:

We are to rejoice in hope. We find our joy not in stuff or even people, but in the eternal hope of Christ. Remember that hope in the Bible is a sure thing we count on receiving some day. We need to stop trying to get relief from our internal issues with new clothes, or hard liquor, or too much TV, or some other person. Instead, we need to be restored by putting our hope fully in Jesus.

We also must learn to be patient. Everyone of us are going to have trials. Hope lived out during trials gives us patience to endure until the trial is over. No trial lasts forever! In the “worst” case scenario you die and go be with Jesus! And that is hardly a worst case. And most trials are not leading us to immediate death, even though at the time it may feel that way!

And we need to really get practical with our prayer. No one can maintain hope and be patient without staying connected to Christ by constantly talking to Him about all the stuff of life. If I have said it once I have said it 1000 times; prayer and time in the Scriptures is where we find the hope and strength to stay Christ-centered in a self-centered world.

Next post I will share with you the other two “New Life Resolutions” for living a life of love. For today, ask Jesus “How can I be more centered on YOU?” and “Who should I be on the lookout for to express love in action on YOUR behalf?”