What is "Doing Better" in the New Year?

By the time you read this it will be a new year, 2024. If it’s not already, that odometer is about ready to turn over. Take a look at 2023 in the rearview mirror. It’s over. Gone. Done. Out of reach. It’s too late to change that. The cement has set.
So, what about this year, then? What will you do with 2024? We like to make resolutions about that. They are almost universally unkept. We’re always trying to figure out how we can do better. Well, resolutions don’t usually work. Now, a change of year is a milestone, a momentous event around which we might just wrap a change to our lives that will stick.
I recommend that you not try to make too many changes all at once. One thing at a time is enough. Too many things at once and it becomes like juggling. You’re bound to drop it all and walk away worse than you began. Is that because you are worse? Not really. You’re probably about the same, but you experienced a failure. That never encourages us.
Here’s another thing to consider, when Jesus found us, we were in a mess. How many years ago was that? For some of us it was a long time, almost 50 years for me. How much have I changed in that time? A lot probably, but it’s taken 50 years. What does that tell me? That most of the change He’s brought about in my life has been gradual and incremental. It wasn’t quick, suddenly and in big batches like we make our yearly resolutions. We’re mistaken to expect so much so quickly. Incidentally, that goes for our neighbors and fellow Christians. We too often expect perfection and we want it now. Let’s go easier on one another.
So, now that we’ve learned that, what about resolutions? Well, what would you like to accomplish this year that you’ve never before? Rather than just ‘doing better’, what good could you do? Maybe it’s just a habit that you want to change. Or, do you want to be kinder? Focus more on people and their needs. Try to see them differently, choosing to care about them as He cares. And when you stumble, remember that it wasn’t an instant change that you were trying to bring, then fell from. It’s a yearlong commitment to work to establish a change. So, don’t’ be too hard on yourself when you stumble. Learn from the experience. Get back into that saddle.
There could be any one of a bizzillion things that you might like to see done in your life this year. Is there a ministry in your future? Take a step in that direction. Wanting to support your pastor? Start praying for them. Want to see the world reached? Get behind someone who’s doing it, or join a work, or pray. In any of these things, pick a goal, maybe just one. Then start your journey, a step at a time. Don’t hold yourself accountable, like the change magically happened on Jan 1st and anything less than perfection is failure. You’ve begun a journey.
Make yourself some reminders, anything from post-it notes on your fridge or bathroom mirror to notes in your prayer list. Keep it before the Lord in prayer. Then start to do it. Stumble? Get back up and start walking. Be nice to yourself. You’re trying to grow and improve. Never give up. Then when 2025 rolls around, look back and see what you see in the rearview mirror. Better? I trust so.