New Year's Resolutions: Act and Commit to Change
Over the years we have all made New Year's Resolutions. Sometimes we are serious and determined and, other times, we do so because it is the thing to do on January 1st. However, there is no rule that says January 1st is the only day to make resolutions. Our faith calls us to make them every day. The beginning of a new year is a good time to assess our faith and where it is leading us. Then to take the big step - act and commit to change.
Below are some short reflections on the practice of making these resolutions. We simply put them in a hat and had individuals in the group pull them out randomly, read them and comment. We then opened up the discussion to others present.
Begin the discussion that Resolutions are really about change and, without the willingness to change, the resolutions become hollow.
The group leader could facilitate discussion by asking the question, "Does this statement apply to your thinking? Or have you heard this statement or something similar in the past?
The video "My First New Years Resolution" can be shown and the importance of hearing from motivational speakers or simply observing those who motavate through their actions could be added.
Unknown author: "One of the happiest moments ever is when you feel the courage to let go of what you cannot change"
Romans 12:2: "Don't copy the behavior and customs of the world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you , which is good and pleasing and perfect".
C. S. Lewis: "It's funny how day by day, nothing changes. But when you look back, everything is different".
Norman Vincent Peale: "Change your thoughts and you will change your world"
Matthew 18:3: "And he said: I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like a little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven".
Numbers 23:19: "God is not man, that he should lie, or the son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not fulfill it?"
Unknown author: "Forgiveness does not change the past but it does enlarge the future".
Hebrews 13:8: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever".
Billy Graham: "Only God, who made us, can touch us and save us from ourselves".
James 1:17: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights in whom there is no variation or shadow due to change".
Charles Stanley: "Often times God demonstrates his faithfulness in adversity by providing for us what we need to survive. He does not change our painful circumstances. He sustains us through them".
II Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
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Read about a world that changed, slowly for some and, in a whirlwind, for others. Please click:
The Chest of Visions
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| Read our story: May our New Year 2021 be filled with Obonato for a new source of hope for the New Year. Found at: "Obonato , a story of hope" |
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