I received this in an email this afternoon. I thought this was a great thought to start off the new year!
If you Google the statement “A New Year, a New You” you will find a myriad of companies making the promise that their product is exactly what you need for a better new year.
Each year, millions of people make a list of resolutions for the New Year. The fitness center fills up, budgets are made, and diet plans are forged. Come February, the gym is half empty, you’ve lost track of your checkbook, and that cheeseburger tasted delicious at lunch.
According to Opinion Corporation of Princeton, 8% of people are always successful in achieving their resolutions, 19% achieve their resolutions every other year, 49% have infrequent success, and 24% (one in four people) NEVER succeed and have failed on every resolution, every year. Whew, that’s depressing.
It’s the same with our spiritual life. We all have good intentions, but often times lack the structure to follow through on our resolutions to grow deeper in our relationship with God.
Recently, we talked to John Ortberg, author of The Me I Want to Be, about unique plans for your spiritual growth. He said,
“What would grow an orchid would drown a cactus.
What would feed a mouse would starve an elephant.
The key is not treating every creature alike.
It is finding the unique conditions that help each creature grow.
God never grows two people the same way.”
This year, a worthy resolution is to be intentional about discovering the unique conditions that help you grow closer to Christ.
“God is a Hand-Crafter not a Mass Producer.” John Ortberg