Happy ’25 – Some Resolutions Worth Keeping This Year 

By Bethany Riehl 

Are you a New Year’s resolutions maker? How about a New Year’s resolutions keeper, which is drastically different than the former? I, myself, am a lover of lists and plans…and not so much at keeping to said lists and plans. It could be because I cram every little thing I want to change or try or accomplish onto a list the last week of December, then expect myself to conquer it all by the end of January and do it perfectly. Sounds reasonable, right? 

I have learned over the years what many, many productivity books, blogs, and articles have been saying for longer than I’ve been alive: if you want to see change in your life, start small and stay consistent. I would add one more vital detail – seek the Lord and ask for His help. 

“And this is the confidence that we have toward Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him” (1 John 4:14,15). 

In light of that, I’m going to miraculously finish the book I’ve been working on, conquer my dependence on queso, lose X amount of weight, and have my life perfectly organized all by Jan. 8, 2025, right? Oh, and if I just pray and ask, God will give me a Jeep Wrangler (because, yes, that is my dream car). 

Well…that’s the danger of taking one verse and using it to make an argument for something. This isn’t about making a list of requests to the Lord and standing with our hands out, waiting for Him to deliver. 

There are many things in life that we can’t be sure of and many, many prayers and requests we can offer to the Lord, not truly knowing how we ought to pray because we don’t know God’s will. But there are even more areas that we can be sure of. 

“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in him” (1 John 3:21-24a). 

Keeping the commandments of God, walking in the Light as He is in the Light, loving one another as He loves, are not the way of salvation. Only Jesus, living a perfect life and dying as our substitute, saves us. But our response to that amazing grace is naturally to walk after Him. If we want to succeed in life in the only ways that matter, we must take up our cross and follow after Him. 

As we look to Him to guide us in the new year, there are absolutes that we can count on Him fulfilling in us. Every command He gives – to love one another (1 John 4:7), put to death the deeds of the flesh (Colossians 3), work heartily as for the Lord (Colossians 3), to have peace and let the Word dwell richly in us (Colossians 3), etc., etc. are all prayers you can “take to the bank” as my pastor likes to say. If He has commanded it, He will provide the will and way to grow in these areas as we pray and seek Him for help. 

Please allow me to share an example of this in my own life. About two years ago, I felt convicted to memorize more Scripture. I asked the Lord for help, and put in the work I knew would be required to obey. It was genuinely hard work as first, and still is at times. But each time I felt discouraged if I couldn’t get a verse to stick, or when I felt myself begin to lose the passion for the discipline, I would be reminded of how great God’s power and love is to help us seek after Him and grow in holiness. Since then, I’ve been able to commit 1 John, two chapters from Colossians, several Psalms, and the first seven chapters of Mark to memory. 

This is all a work of the Lord. 

And in the last few months, I’m beginning to see the effects of just this one discipline play out in my life. As I’ve asked for His help to memorize these verses, I’ve also asked that He would carve them on my heart. I can see that He is graciously, mercifully doing so. It’s been incredible to experience. 

As we vacuum up the pine needles and glitter, clean out our fridges and make room in the closets for Christmas gifts, let us turn to the Lord, asking Him to lead us in the new year. A focus on exercise, organization, budgets, and healthy relationships are all important and even biblical and they are absolutely goals worth pursuing and making a part of your resolutions. But maybe we can take a good thing – exercise, for example – and ask the Lord how He would have you honor Him with it. Do you really need to be sculpted and aim for a summer bod? Or would a habit of healthy pursuits (wholesome diet and daily movement) to tell your body that you’re in submission to the Lord be a better way to go about it? 

Instead of reading X number of books, what if we aim to commit Scripture to memory? 

Instead of setting boundaries in relationships, maybe you could pray about any relationships where you need to offer forgiveness and grace alongside healthy boundaries. 

This year, with our eyes on the Lord, one prayer and goal at a time, maybe we can avoid that slump that comes at the end of January when our lives go back to same old same old. This side of heaven, we will never be perfect. But we can keep walking forward, eyes on Jesus, knowing that He who calls us is faithful to help us keep walking, and seeking, and asking. 

“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). 

Bethany Riehl lives in the Treasure Valley with her husband, three kids, and a dog. She writes articles and fictional novels when she can, and her one desire is to point others to the love and sufficiency of Jesus Christ.