Above all things, I want to know God better. I want a deeper and more personal level of My Creator so that I can begin to reflect Him in more aspects of my life and more frequently than I did last year. I want God to mold my character and make me an honest woman, a woman that fears His Word, and practices what she preaches. I want every word that I speak to be spoken in love even if I am correcting someone or do not agree with their viewpoints. I want to forgive those that hurt me faster than I did last year. Like one of my favorite songs by Kevin Levar, "I want a heart that forgives, a heart full of love, one with compassion just like Yours above. One that overcomes evil with goodness and love, like it never happened, never holding a grudge. I want a heart that loves everybody, even my enemies...". I want God to help me treat others with the same grace and mercy that He handles me with. In short, I pray that God should give me an appetite to eat off of all the trees that bear the fruits of the Spirit.
" But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."-Galatians 5:22-23
My second resolution is simply a continuation from last year and from all my years of undergradurate studies. As someone that is going to be a student for a few more years, I simply want God to give me the grace to finish school strong. In the process of focusing on school, I do not want anything or anyone that will be a cause of distraction and that means not giving in to the temptations associated with professional school/graduate school. The Scriptures says "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners"- 1 Corinthians 15:33 What this means is that anything that is evil can and will eventually corrupt you if you hang around long enough. That is why the same Scriptures instruct us to abstain from all appearances of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Whether we are students or not, we should make every attempt to separate ourselves from that which is not good.
My third and final resolution is to pray more earnestly about the future. I believe that it is crucial to pray for things to comes including graduation, possible career paths, marriage and life partner, vision and goals, etc. When it comes to those things, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean NOT on your own understanding. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path"-Proverbs 3:5-6. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. It also tells us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. With that in mind, I want to be a stronger prayer warrior. I want to be like Hannah, pouring her heart to God even while people passing by thought she was crazy. I want to be like Esther that prayed and fasted before going in to see the King to make her request known and save her people. I want to be like the woman that washed the feet of Jesus with her tears, wiped it with her hair, and poured her sweetest and most expensive perfume from her alabaster jar on them in worship. I do not wish to make any moves pertaining to my future without first seeking God's face and asking for His direction.
It is a new year and a fresh opportunity to renew ourselves and pursue the things that will make us reflect God. My father preached a message for this year titled "Do Not Give Up" and in terms of New Year resolutions, that message is perfect because most resolutions do not survive into February. No matter what the year brings, remember your God and remind Him daily of your resolutions. Don't give up on your dreams, don't give up on your resolutions, but most importantly, DO NOT GIVE UP ON GOD. He that has brought you this far, is faithful and shall see you through. May the peace of God be yours this year. Amen.
Yorkamazing <3
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
