Thursday, January 8, 2009

New Year, New Me

The beginning of a new year is a time when many of us begin to asses the changes we would like to make in our lives to make this year better than last. It is a time when we are bombarded with commercials selling a beautiful new image; new clothes, diet plans, gym memberships, new cars, new home theater, new furnishings, new status symbols. As a I sit here 10 months after the birth of a baby it is really easy to look at myself through the worlds eyes and not like what I see. When I first sat down to make me resolutions for the new year weight loss and a new wardrobe to make me feel better about myself were the first things that came to mind; then a Sunday morning sermon entitled The Real Thing changed my mind.

I have put a lot of my value as a person into my outward appearance, and have long felt that I don't and never would have much value in this world if that was my only measuring stick. After really looking into the words of a favorite scripture passage I have changed my view not only of myself but of beauty itself.

"and let not your adornment be merely external braiding the hair and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God" 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NASB)

After examining this scripture I have come up with a list of resolutions for the coming year that will really improve who I am; better and more permanently than any diet plan ever could.

My Resolutions For 2009
  • Daily prayer, and meditaiton on Scripture
  • Listen more, talk less
  • Teach my Children to love the Word of God
  • Focus on the inner person, making sure I have a quiet and gentle spirit
  • Completely cut out my residual and perpetual sins
  • Focus on the blessings my children really are
  • Reclaim the Sabbath as Holy to the Lord
  • Really dedicate myself to the task of raising Godly children
  • Let go of the demands and expectations of the world to live in the fullness of the Lord
  • Learn my worth in Christ, let got of my worthlessness in the world
  • Establish relationships that are the Real Thing
Please hold me accountable and ask me how these are going, it may seem like a daunting list but if I focus mainly on my realtionship with Christ I know all the rest will fall into place.

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me" Phil 4:13 (NASB)

2 comments:

Jenn and Mike said...

I love your list too! This year has been hard for me to come up with new year resolution because I am prego... and I already made my goals when I found out! I am a very strong believer in writing goals down and reviewing them regularly.

I also wanted to say that exercising our body that our Heavenly Father gave us is important too. The hitch here is to remind ourselves to not focus on the worldly ideal; that is when we falter and aren't able to hold up to that expectation. We have to remember to exercise our minds and our hearts, but also our bodies so that we are able to do the Lord's work. I hope that makes sense.... the sweetness of doing so is that we feel better about ourselves.

I hope that makes sense... in fact, I have made goals in the past that were to exercise more... or regularly. Even if it meant going on a walk or taking my kids to the park.

Source of Light Designs said...

I agree, I am still going to be exercising and eating healthy, just with a different focus and purpose.