With a new year comes the opportunity to resolve to change and improve ourselves. Every year, I struggle with whether or not to make New Year’s resolutions. Several things deter me, not the least of which is the fact that too many of my past resolutions have fallen flat. This year, however, I struggled with whether or not Latter-day Saints need new resolutions each January.
We had a wonderful lesson in church a few months back regarding the power of the atonement. Since then, I’ve pondered ways to draw on the power Christ put forth in the garden of Gethsemane and implement it into my life each day. One thing I’ve come to realize, through scripture study and by listening to the prophets of this dispensation, is that we have the opportunity, if not the obligation, to make new resolutions each day.
In Chapter 4 of this year’s Teachings of the Presidents of the Church book (yes, I’m a nerd, I’ve already started reading the lessons), President Kimball notes, “There is never a day in any man’s life when repentance is not essential to his well-being and eternal progress.” We have been urged to repent of our sins each day, to spend the evening in contemplative prayer and try to find a way to improve ourselves daily. Each day, we should draw a little closer to Christ, to walking in His footsteps and following His path. Each morning we should resolve to do a little better, to be a little better.
Does that mean that Latter-day Saints get out of making New Year’s resolutions, since we should be resolving – either specifically or globally – to make changes each day? I’ve pondered this over the last two or three weeks and decided that yes, we do. While we can make most temporal goals spiritual goals as well – what is eating healthy and exercising but following the Word of Wisdom a bit closer? – the new year gives us the chance to look at the year as a whole, while our daily prayers help us break down the goal. Since I am a nerdy, planning-type person by nature, I like the idea of breaking things down specifically.
For instance, one of my resolutions for 2007 is to study my scriptures every day, both as an individual and as a family. That gives me a goal to examine for the entire year. But since I know this is something I struggle with, I can spend each day asking the Lord to help me overcome the obstacles that seem to spring up in my specific path. For instance, I really want to ‘steal’ a few minutes to myself to study the scriptures first thing in the morning, but I am not a morning person. Thus, I ask the Lord to help me remember my goal when I first wake up, thus putting me on task. If that doesn’t work, I think I’ll ask Him to boot me out of bed.
So as you examine the resolutions you made a few days past, think of how you can best ask the Lord to help you through the daily struggles that get you there. If your resolutions are things you ought to be doing anyway – such as daily scripture study – you can take the time to both repent and re-resolve. Fortunately for me (although it never seems fortunate at 11:30 at night), repenting for neglecting my scripture study that day almost always pulls me out of bed to read for a few minutes; that is one of the ‘lucky’ resolutions I make that can almost immediately be corrected. If only the rest were so easy to fix……
Related Blogs:
General Conference: “The Atonement Can Clean, Reclaim, and Sanctify Our Lives”
General Conference: “He Heals the Heavy Laden”