Resolve

I hurt my knee and I’m hoping that it resolves itself without medical assistance.  I also have lots of resolve when it comes to protecting my kids and wanting them to be healthy and do well.  And of course, I’ve made many New Year’s resolutions to varying degrees of success.  When I think about the word, “resolve,” it has lots of daily applications.  Along with daily usage, resolve is particularly relevant coming into a new year when we often assess the preceding year and make resolutions for change with the calendar changing. 

Before we start making New Year’s resolutions, let’s consider that resolve is a Latin-derived verb that means to loosen, untie, set free, explain or relax.  To this end, let’s consider letting go of some things from this year.  I would suggest that we could probably release some unforgiveness, disappointments, fears, anxieties, hurtful habits, judgments, communication patterns that aren’t beneficial and distorted perceptions. 

Maybe it would also be helpful to grieve some of the losses that we experienced in 2020, acknowledging the pains and voids such losses invoke.  I recognize that grief isn’t pleasant, but it can be a necessary process to move forward into a hopeful future.  So before we make a fresh start with the new year, we would be wise to assess the things that need to be released from this year so that we move into 2021 with less weight and heaviness from 2020. 

I recognize that you will likely have some resolutions you want to make for 2021, but I’d like to throw in a few ideas: 

• Resolve to encourage yourself in the Lord. In 1 Samuel 30:6c, we read that David encouraged himself in the Lord.  This is really significant because David might have been experiencing the worst day of his life.  His town had been burned to the ground, everyone was taken captive and his followers were thinking of stoning David in response to their grief and loss.  To this end, no matter what happens in 2021, let’s keep ourselves encouraged in God!  We can do this by being steady with God in some daily fellowship, finding encouraging Bible verses, listening to encouraging praise songs, memorizing an uplifting Psalm and lots more!
• Resolve to keep your eyes on Jesus. In Hebrews 12:2, it says, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.”  Picking a focal point for 2021 is really helpful to keep our faith and hope focused on Jesus who helps us no matter what we’re going through or experiencing. 
• Resolve to keep genuine love as the core value in your life.  I suggest this resolution because genuine love is the most central and essential message of Jesus.  Let’s not forget that 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because He first loved us.”  As such, let’s remain available for God to love us and to express themselves (Triune God) to us since God is love (1 John 4:16), along with letting God love through us.

Let’s resolve or determine to stay available for God to love us and love through us in 2021, more than we’ve done in previous years.  Indeed, love is the essential and continuous message to us throughout the Bible and throughout time!  Happy New Year!