When you hear the words, “New Year’s Resolution,” what comes to mind?
Guilt?
Excitement?
Apathy?
Energy?
The emotions that come from New Year’s Resolutions might be the result of what tends to motivate you. Gretchen Rubin wrote a New York Best Seller book titled The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too). In this book she offers a quiz to discover what motivation works best based on your tendency. She says people tend to fall into one of four categories: Obliger, Upholder, Questioner, or Rebel. While we slide around all four of them, we tend to land in one of them most of the time.
If you would like to talk the quiz and see what your tendencies are, click here. It’s completely free but does require that you submit your email to get the results.
How we feel about New Year’s Resolutions can reveal our tendency.
Obligers – “I don’t like to make New Year’s Resolutions. I never keep them anyway.”
Questioners – “Why wait until Jan. 1? If something is going to improve my life, I’ll work on it when it makes sense to.”
Rebels – “I’m not going to bind myself to a commitment for an entire year.” Or “You think I can’t quit smoking? Just watch, my last cigarette will be on Dec. 31.”
Upholders – “I love making New Year’s Resolutions. They really help me improve.”
In case you haven’t already guessed, I’m a strong Questioner. I tend to slide down to Rebel more than Upholder, but rarely am an Obliger. I rarely do something just because someone else has asked me to, I need to have an internal motivation as well.
As the new year approaches, I’ve been wondering how Jesus would have felt about them. Would he have encouraged his disciples to make resolutions and keep them?
I’ve also wondered what his tendency would have been. I don’t think he would have had one. I can find examples in the scriptures when he showed all four. I think he was what he needed to be exactly when he needed to be it.
When I read about Jesus’ ministry, I don’t get the impression that he was against setting goals necessarily but wasn’t trying to create a bunch of goal-setting disciples either.
I don’t think he cares so much about what plans we make, but that we are willing to accept the plans God makes. He seems to want us to stop stressing about the future and stay in the present.
Additionally, I’ve noticed that Jesus doesn’t talk about much about doing but rather about being. In his Sermon on the Mount, he doesn't say “Blessed are the those who work really hard at…” He just simply says, "Blessed are..." He wants us right now in this very moment to be meek, merciful, poor in spirit, pure in heart, etc. Our blessings come from the condition of our heart, not the actions.
Have you ever seen a new mother announce the birth of her child and say, “This year I’ve set a goal to work really hard at loving my baby”? I never have. Usually it’s something like, “We are so in love with our new baby already.”
How is a mother able to love someone so completely and instantly? The baby is needy, helpless, and basically just cries and poops. Yet a mother would do just about anything to protect the life of that newborn. Why? Having given birth to five babies myself, I believe that it is a divine love, a gift directly from God.
We don’t have to give birth to receive this gift. All of us can love as God loves, right here, right now. Not with lots of resolutions and goals, but by willing to accept this great gift.
And who are we to love? Jesus tells us the two great commandments are to love God and each other, ourselves included. What flows from that love? The ability to forgive, to avoid judging, to have charity, to see others the way God sees them.
No matter how you feel about New Year’s Resolutions or goal setting, I believe that every one of us can have a happy new year. I imagine Jesus is saying “Happy New Year!” when he said,
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Our year will have turmoil, but we can have peace.
Our year will have troubles, but our heart does not need to be troubled.
Our year will have fears, but we do not need to be afraid.
No matter what trials may come our way, Jesus us wants us to have a happy new year.
Wishing you a great Sabbath,
Heather Ruth Pack
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