Clean Slate
New Year’s resolutions; we’ve all made – and broke – them, sometimes by the end of January. Lose weight, exercise, travel, get organized, take up a new hobby, tighten the budget like a belt around a soon-to-be slimmer waist, and on and on.
Year after year, we flip open a new calendar with days, weeks and months on pristine empty pages. Filling in the blanks of a brand new planner with a new pen feels like a fresh start. We light that candle we got for Christmas, break open an aromatic bag of that gift-from-a-friend coffee, pour it in that ginormous new mug and sit back to read that book we’ve been saving until after the holidays.
Yet as the current year moves along just like it did in 2022, before we know it, it’s spring and buyer’s remorse sets in. We’re making monthly payments on the treadmill that’s just gathering dust or serving as a rod for our exercise clothing. The scent of the new candle gave us a headache, the coffee didn’t taste like our favorite brand, the handle broke off the mug and the book had an unhappy ending. Here we are again. Or rather, not here we go, but here we stay. We’re stuck in the wrong “brand new”.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting better health, enlarging our minds and financial peace; however, notice that the above wish list is all about US. Where and when do our resolutions include Him, the One Who created us?
Luke 10:27 says, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind…”
If you put into practice what Jesus said were the two most important commandments – Love God and Love People – our priorities shift.
Want to keep that resolution to get healthy? Load your phone with scripture, your
morning devotional or praise-and-worship music, then get outside, go to the gym or start using that treadmill. Body and soul will be renewed.
Want to organize all that stuff in the back of your closet that’s still in great condition and shouldn’t be thrown away? Clean it up, box it up and take it to The Salvation Army Store, Goodwill or Habitat for Humanity Restores. Your good, used items can be sold to help people in need: clothing, small appliances, glassware and tools are made affordable for those with limited resources. They get a bargain and you get more space in your home.
Want to start a new hobby? Make it purposeful. If you plan to learn to quilt, sew or garden, make sure the recipient of all your hard work truly values your time and effort. For example, some hospitals love getting tiny knitted or crocheted caps for newborns. Needy moms might treasure a made-with-love quilt to wrap up their baby. With the price of food lately, you would have no problem sharing the bounty from your small garden.
Lastly, when we give God His portion first, He is faithful to provide all our needs.
Like my Daddy tells me, “You can’t out give God.”
By putting into practice the services mentioned in last four paragraphs – and any others you come up with – you’ve wiped clean the slate of missteps in 2023. Now you can get excited about that new planner and pen as you write down all the ways you can bless others as you pay it forward.
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” II Corinthians 9: 7-9.
Elaine Hall
The Conversation
Great ideas for starting the year! Our purpose here is to become Christ-like, and serving God. We need to serve Him by telling others about the forgiveness of sins provided through Christ. We can also serve our fellow man by giving and sharing. Most of us have more than we need, and yet we keep filling our closets and storage with more “stuff”. As suggested here, make a resolution to clear out some of our stuff and bless others with it.
I love what your Dad said: you can’t out-give God !
Use a rainy or too-cold-to-go-out day to get in there and fill boxes with your “blessings”.
Christs’ greatest “virtue” was His compassion, and He gave freely of His gifts, mostly when not asked. Let’s imitate Christ.
You’ve humbled me, and motivated me, Elaine. Thank you.