Do you make new year’s resolutions? If not, why not? Is it because you are honest enough to admit that you will not see it through? Or is it because you are content with how you are, you don’t need to make any changes? Is it because you are already working hard at self-improvement, and you don’t wait for the new year to do it? Or is it because you’ve given up, that there’s no point in trying to be better, ‘this is who I am, deal with it!’

I don’t think that we need to make new year’s resolutions, but neither do I think it’s a bad idea. A new year (or any new beginning) is a good time to do a self-check, to consider your progress or lack of it. And Jesus has given us every reason to aim for better than the status quo: He’s arranged for our forgiveness for all our failure, He’s set us free from the power of sin and death and hell, He’s given us the Spirit of God Who helps us to live God-like, fruitful lives, and He’s promised us that one day we will be like Him.

If Jesus were talking with you right now about your life, your spiritual and moral progress, what would He put His finger on as something you ought to work on? With Jesus help, how will this year be different from last year?