Leftover Resolutions
Help me turn my eyes away from illusions so that I pursue only that which is true; drench my soul with life as I walk in your paths. Psalm 119:37 TPT
How’s your New Year’s resolution holding up? If you made a resolution, then you are in good company. Pew Research estimates that three in ten adults made a 2026 resolution, and Stagwell, a digital marketing company, increases that number to 42%. The most common resolutions are to exercise more, be happier, eat healthier, improve physical health, and save money. All noble resolutions!
However, you are also in good company if you have already broken your resolution. The University of Scranton estimates that only 8-9% actually keep their resolutions. There is an unofficial holiday, Quitter’s Day, observed on the 2nd Friday of January, when people give up on their resolutions. This year, Quitter’s Day was on January 9.
Resolutions can be helpful if they draw our attention to something in our lives. The problem is that resolutions, for the sake of resolutions, often fail. We all intend to keep our resolutions, so why do we often fail? The reasons are probably just as diverse as the resolutions: lack of time, busy schedules, conflicting interests, too complicated, or simply one more task to do. Whatever the reason, we tend to move on to something else.
I didn’t observe Quitter’s Day this year because I didn’t make any resolutions. However, I did decide on my defining word for the year. Last year’s word was space—not outer space, but inner space. My desire was to create space within my soul for God, and from it flowed what truly mattered.
This year, I chose the word “Sacred.” I realize that everything I do should be sacred, which for me means honoring God in how I use my time, energy, money, writing, social media, and life itself. The key verse for me is found in Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (NIV)
Life is often described as a contrast between the sacred and the secular, creating a divide between God and our world. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines sacred as “set apart for the service or worship of deity,” and secular as “not sacred or ecclesiastical.”
This past week, one of my favorite writers admitted to an eight-year affair involving infidelity. His work helped a generation understand and live a grace-filled life. I felt disappointment, frustration, and a bit of shock. At first, I thought it was just an AI-generated hoax. Lisa Whittle of Relevant Magazine said it well, “We can be sad and mad at this, but it shouldn’t cause us to lose faith in God. God had nothing to do with this. People can be a Christian and sin. People can be a spiritual leader and sin. Secret sin kills everyone around us. It’s time to take it seriously.”
This writer may have had good intentions to be faithful and made all the resolutions to stay true, but somewhere along the way, he failed to keep his first commitment to honor God. My heart grieves for another voice lost because of his failure to stay true to God’s way, but even more for his wife, family, the church, and those outside the community of faith who only see another Jesus follower fail.
I don’t think Jesus was overly concerned with making resolutions, but he was concerned with how we live and where our focus should be. When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) That keeps everything in focus!
This week’s failure was not the first, nor, unfortunately, will it be the last. Nonetheless, what is certain is that God’s grace, love, and faithfulness continue. I offer this prayer, worded by Sarah Yardley, to encourage us:
“Christ, have mercy. Keep me holy. Keep me humble.
Expose my unrepentant sin. Convict me of thoughts, desires, behaviors that could shatter my soul and destroy my credibility.
Give me friends who speak to me boldly, clearly, calling me to a deeper holiness. Make me this kind of friend to others. Thank you for the companions who have walked with me all my life with honest, holy love. Let me hate patterns of sin and deeply love people in my life. Christ came for sinners, and I am one.
Break my heart for the layers and depths of the hell we choose when we betray hearts, bodies, lives. I grieve the heartache, despondency, disillusionment, pain. Christ, who entered that hell and took captivity captive, have mercy. Enter into the places that feel like hell today. Lead captives into freedom.
Let the name on my lips be Jesus; the only true hero, the one who is always faithful. Spirit of God, make me more like Jesus. Do not let me delight in sin or deride it casually. Give me holy grief and deep compassion.
Jesus, Keep me holy, Keep me humble, Keep my heart close to you.
God is great!
