Decide Commit Succeed

This time of year is rife with resolution talk. I was surprised to see (and should not have been) that this Christmas Day, there were already diet plan ads on television. They couldn’t even wait for Christmas to be done before hopping on the “new and improved” train. Indeed, we are bombarded with diet and exercise plans, all promising we will certainly be successfully resolved, improved and victorious creatures, starting January 1st. Sigh… I recently saw this image on the internet: My mind started churning, rolodex-ing through scripture. The first one which popped up was that of James 1:6-8: “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” That scripture is right up the fickle resolution alley, isn’t it? We may believe we’re committed and decided upon a certain goal. There’s intensity, aspirational things bought to support our new lifestyle and maybe even graph paper to record our breathtaking progress. Oooooh!! We are off and running, aren’t we? That’s January 1st. The problem is, however, we soon reach January 2nd and beyond. Motivation wanes, the stuff we bought is covered with dust and that graph paper is crumpled up. And, of course, we’re feeling absolutely fantastic about ourselves now, aren’t we? Yeah. It’s usually in this haze where this scripture makes its relevant appearance: “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice: but what I hate, that I do.” The Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15 Uh-huh. So, what are we to do with that? Scream? Cry? Stab a calendar? Well, those are options. But I think, again, scripture is a soothing elixir. Granted, through our imperfect human lens, it won’t be perfectly attained, but it can be a reality check, nevertheless. And yes, here I go again, trucking out one of my favorites, 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Piggybacking that? The notorious Proverb fest: “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 paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 Again, it’s not lived perfectly. Forget perfectionism! But scripture can serve as a guide to empower us to make better choices. We can decide to undertake that process, instead of turning it into a one-time only unrealistic event. Let’s resolve (decide-commit-succeed) to do THAT! Copyright © 2013 by Sheryle Cruse