Can Christian's Make Resolutions

The year is almost over, 2025 has come to an end. The time has come to usher in 2026. What happened this year can be remembered, but cannot be relived. Planning for next year is appropriate and right. What are your goals? Have you taken stock of where you are and where you would like to be? The Lord Jesus taught us to put God first in our lives and He will provide us a way to care for ourselves in Matthew 6. In the book of James we are taught not to plan without bringing God into those plans.

Since this is true, can a Christian make resolutions? The simple answer is yes. If we place our trust in God and prayerfully consider what we would like to accomplish in this next year, then it is proper and good to make or set goals for our lives.

A lot of times people will focus on physical goals or resolutions. Things like losing weight, getting healthy, saving money, or trying to find a new job that pays more. None of those things are wrong. If a person is a Christian, then those are to be viewed through the lens of faith in God. In other words, is my motivation for those things to be of more service to the Lord and others to bring glory to God? (see Matthew 5:14-16) Or is my motivation for my own well-being alone? That is the question.

May all of us seek to be more like Jesus in the coming year. Seek to be more humble, servant-oriented, compassionate, and wanting good for everyone. May we desire to please God in any way that we can. May we desire to study His word more, to lead others to Jesus, to give to others generously, and to give up our will to do the will of the One who loves us.

Philippians 2:3-8 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

May the Lord bless us all with a prosperous and fruitful 2026!