No Resolutions, Just Christ

In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers writes that "All our vows and resolutions end in denial because we have no power to carry them out." This really spoke to me as I'm beginning a new year. I've never been a fan of New Year's resolutions, simply because they seem designed to be broken. This year, I decided to set a few "goals" for myself, but now, after reading Chambers, I've realized I've only set myself up to fail, since my goals were based on me, and what I can accomplish. Well, I can accomplish nothing.

One of the goals I made for myself was to lose some weight and get in better shape. My weight is something I have really struggled with for the past few years. I have a very hard time forming a true perspective of what my body should look like, especially now, after having had a baby. I have come to realize that in college I was too thin and not healthy, but I am still struggling to determine and accept what might be a good weight for me. I also struggle because it seems like no matter how much I work out, or how hard I try, I just can't seem to shed any pounds. This is especially hard when I witness others around me who seem to stay thin effortlessly. I have to fight for every ounce.

Anyway, all of that just to say that I've been missing the point with my goals. Even the weight one. As long as I am eating healthy, getting plenty of exercise, and taking care of my body, then I shouldn't worry about anything else. Focusing so much on my weight is focusing far too much on me. Also, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and God has created me to be the body type that I am. And when I am focusing so much on one mere aspect of myself, I am obviously not focusing my attention on Christ.

In the same entry, Chambers also writes: "No matter what changes God has wrought in you, never rely upon them, build only on a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and on the Spirit He gives." Even if I were to lose a bunch of weight, and have a perfect body, would I really be in a better place? I would be priding myself on what I'd accomplished, and definitely placing far too much emphasis on myself.

No, my focus needs to be not on what I can do to improve myself, but what Christ can do through me, if only I'll quit being so self-centered and let Him. So I'll keep my 2011 "goals" in the back of my mind, because they will help keep me structured and can only help me to improve, but I don't want them to be my main focus this year. Instead, I want to build this year on the Person of Christ, and on His Spirit. And if I happen to slim down, great - it will be an added bonus. But my true source of joy should not come from seeing a self-centered goal completed, like a finished manuscript of the novel I've been working on for the past 3-4 years, or the numbers on the scale dropping. No, my true source of joy should be in Christ. So that is my resolution for this year: To Build on the Person of Christ. And if I acknowledge up-front that I have no power to carry this out, and will have to rely on Christ to work in and through me, paradoxically, the goal can be achieved.