New Year's Resolutions

1 Timothy 6: 11 – 16 (NIV): But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time – God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

It's a new year and time for new year's resolutions. In this passage we find some spiritual resolutions. First, to pursue righteousness. Paul wrote this to Timothy, a young preacher living in a world full of greed and corruption. Paul warns him to avoid the traps of seeking quick wealth, but to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness instead. I encourage each of us to consider what our year can be like if we use our time and energy pursuing these traits.
How do we pursue godliness? This means to be more and more like God himself. He tells the truth and does not lie. He loves everyone unconditionally with a sacrificial love. He puts others first. Paul points out in this passage that Jesus “made the good confession” to Pontius Pilate. In other words, Jesus stood before him and accepted the death penalty so that we may have eternal life. Paul tells Timothy to hang on to the promise of salvation and let it rule his life until Jesus returns – or he goes to meet him.
Another resolution this year is to walk by faith and not by sight. This is the essence of Christianity. It is impossible to please God without faith, and we will never receive God's full blessings without it. Our faith is reasonable and based on rock-solid evidence, but it is still faith because, as Paul says in our passage, God cannot be seen.
To love everyone is our next resolution. With a sacrificial, unconditional love. Life is so much more joyful when we put others first. What if love truly ruled our community? We can only imagine.
Endurance is a great resolution this year because it means we stick with it and don't give up no matter what. So many of us begin our Christian walk strong and courageous, but few end that way. May we endure in our faith from the beginning to the end of this new year.
Finally, gentleness. Not only are we kind to each other, but we put up with each other's faults, realizing we have plenty of our own. We treat others as we would want to be treated and we forgive each other. How wonderful this new year can be if we will just live by these simple resolutions. Happy new year from my family to yours.