Resolution, More Like Revolution

Happy New Year and welcome, 2011!  Even though Christmas and New Year's can make one's schedule quite full and hectic, I am grateful they are celebrated in winter.  I am not one who likes cold weather (aka anything below 70 degrees F) and the lack of greenery outside is a huge downer.  Christmas, although overly commercial, is my favorite holiday.  What's not to like?  We celebrate the birth of a baby, the music is awesome and the decorations are by far the best of any other holiday.  All the yummy, tummy stretching vittles may even supersede the decorations.  The jury is still out on that one for me.  I also like the classic Christmas shows like Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Last but not least, I have cause to spend time with loved ones.

But all that is over now and I don't think I'm alone in feeling a sharp drop from riding the wave of that high.  For me, January is not only about taking time and thinking about what I will accomplish in the future eleven months but considering what I've learned from the past twelve months as well. 

The most important thing I learned last year was that having love for others is the highest, most honorable characteristic we humans can possess.  I'm not talking about physical attraction.  The kind I mean is like the love a parent has for their child.  When I studied the book of John in the Bible, I learned even parental love pales in comparison to the love that Jesus has for us.  Although I have heard this many times throughout my life, I did not fully understand or experience it until now because I carried pride for myself in the form of doing whatever I wanted to do.  Then a revolution began stirring within; my pride versus God's plan for me.  

Once my heart was opened after humbling and deeply convicting experiences, I delved into the only book I know to be consistently true and is the only life manual that will truly help – the Bible.  The truths in it have made me a changed person from the inside out; more than any flimsy New Year's resolution could do.  Once the truth is known, it is difficult to unknow it.

When the dignitaries in Jesus’ day asked him what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the law and prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:34-40)  I was very surprised to learn that love surpasses everything!  

I don't think I'm a perfect person or that I'm better than anyone else.  I wonder, though, if those who know me well see the change that has taken place.  Do they notice that it takes a little longer for me to get angry, that I refrain from participating in gossip and that I do not want to judge others?  Admittedly, I slip and catch myself doing these things but as I said, I'm not perfect.

That is my heart revolution that has turned into a resolution going forward in my life.  I can never be a perfect loving person at all times but I can always look to Christ as a perfect example by reading His word.  That is a resolution I can keep.  Quite frankly, it’s much more difficult for me to make excuses for not reading as opposed to finding time to workout.