I personally have never been “good” at them.
In recent history, I gave up on even attempting to make a resolution on January 1 because I knew myself well enough to know that it would soon become a distant thought. However, I have given it more thought than usual this year.
When thinking about resolutions and what it means to resolve, my first and quite scholarly instinct was to Google it! Perhaps that should be my resolution – to stop googling everything and start thinking for myself.
Eh, maybe next year.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, resolve (verb) means to “decide firmly on a course of action.” Resolve (noun) is defined as “firm determination to do something.” Similarly, the Oxford Dictionary defined resolution (noun) as “a firm decision to do or not to do something.”
Unfortunately, none of these are definitions that I believe the general public are using when they are deciding on resolutions at the turn of the year. Rather, resolutions are typically goals or wishes.
A goal may be to work out more. The resolution would be a firm decision to eat healthier or go to the gym five times a week.
Another goal may be to get to know God better. The resolution would be to make a firm decision to read the Bible daily and not to reach a time quota, but to really dig into what He has to say in the Bible.
My best friend told me that when she thinks of the word resolve, she thinks of fixing something. Oxford Dictionary and I both agree with her. Under that definition, if I resolve something, that means I have to try to fix something.
As January 1 approached, I saw dozens of articles on what my resolution should be as well as how I can make my resolution “stick,” as if all it takes is a little extra gorilla glue.
Here we are, two weeks into 2015 and I have yet to make a resolution. Have I not made a resolution because of a fear of commitment? Quite possibly. Have I not made a resolution because I don’t know what I want to resolve? Yeah, probably. Have I not made a resolution because I don’t want to identify what in my life is broken? Totally!
After much thought and reflection on the past year, I have made a decision. My resolution is to embrace the worst parts of life and give God the glory in the midst of the brokenness. This isn’t a goal of mine, rather a firm decision to recognize God’s perfect strength in my weakness. I resolve to let God resolve (fix) my life. I choose to release my broken spirit into His arms and rejoice at the beauty that it will become.
What will you resolve?