Glorify Him First

New Year, New You?

I’m the worst at New Year’s Resolutions. Maybe you’re like me. I have high hopes and lofty aspirations on January 1. Then, slowly but surely, life gets in the way and my resolve fades. My resolutions are pushed down the to-do list until they drop all the way off.

Part of the problem is that I tend to make too many resolutions. January is when I decide I will solidify and work on every goal I have ever had. I do this every year and set myself up for failure in the process.

Last year, I thought I would be smarter and just do the word thing. You know, when you pick one word to be the theme of your year. I love this trend, and I think it is a great concept, but it just didn’t work for me. Every time I looked at my word, I felt guilty. I was not following through again.

One Sunday in late 2016, while listening to a sermon, I finally got what the Lord wanted me to know. As a Christian, I am already a new person. My purpose is to serve the Lord and let the world see him through me. “[You] have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col. 3:10 NIV).

So in October I made a resolution. That resolution was to put God first.

I heard this sermon about two weeks after my grandfather passed away. His funeral was a wonderful testament to his life. Everyone shared wonderful memories of him. I knew he was a great man who loved God and loved his family. But on that day it became crystal clear to me: he always put God first. Whether it was a popular move or not; whether it was what other people wanted him to do or not; he put God first.

It seems so simple. Put God first. In all I do, I want to put him first.

I am not saying we should remain stagnant and never try to improve ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with resolving to do something better, to read the Bible in a year, or to be healthier. The key is to look at your heart and not let goals define who you are. We should always strive to be more like Christ and to glorify him. Then our striving will be fruitful and not fruitless. “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” (Col. 3:17 NIV).

We can set goals and resolutions, but we also need to realize these goals and resolutions will not magically solve all of our problems. Things will not be perfect. We will not be perfect. But work that glorifies the Lord will be perfected by the Lord. We are called to work and be faithful; the Lord will see to the results.

Dana Herndon is a writer and blogger as well as an elementary and middle school teacher. She and her husband live in Georgia with their three children. In addition to teaching and writing, Dana loves to read, watch Food Network and HGTV, follow politics, and paddleboard. She blogs at danaherndon.com.

Photograph © Ben White, used with permission

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