Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. - Colossians 3:12-14
Happy New Year! This is an exciting time of year - fresh starts and new beginnings. Many will be setting themselves up with New Year’s resolutions - some are planning to exercise faithfully, others are abandoning unhealthy snacks and resolving to eat their vegetables, still others are going to quit smoking or drinking, and others are going to finally manage their finances responsibly. Some are thinking about, perhaps… in a few weeks… maybe… giving up procrastination… if they get around to it.
What a rotten idea! New Year's resolutions generally and inevitably fail. We fail. Why are New Year’s resolutions so tough? I think that it’s because we set ourselves up for failure. When we make our resolutions we begin by identifying ourselves as insufficient:
“I would have value if I could just loose 20 lbs.” “I would be worthy if I could just overcome my addictions.” “I would be happy if I could just control my finances instead of having them control me.” “I would be loved if I could just follow through on my commitments.”
These statements might even have some truth in them! But if we begin by identifying ourselves as insufficient as we are, then we set ourselves up for failure. And it will just take one missed gym session, or one late-night bowl of ice cream, or one larger-than-planned credit card bill and we will find ourselves stumbling into our old depths of misery.
Step one for New Years new beginnings is developing a deeper sense of identity. See yourself the way that God sees you.
How does God see you? “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved…” That is who you are. That is your beginning. Only knowing who you are and whose you are can you truly begin to build a life. And the practices that we build upon are the qualities God gives to us. Read through Colossians 3 in the Bible - the qualities are compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love.
What would 2019 look like if you recognized yourself as God’s chosen, beloved, person? What would it look like if you resolved to love more fully? What would it look like if you determined to be more kind to others, or to generously extend forgiveness to those who wrong you?
What a blessed 2019? See yourself as God sees you and see the world around you through the same eyes of compassion.
