I Hate Resolutions
Resolutions rarely do anyone any good. The new year is a great time to celebrate something new, something exciting, and a different way of approaching things. Resolutions are a dumb idea though. Why would I say something like that? Because most people never follow through on resolutions.
If I say I resolve to do something, but never take an action I can still say I made a resolution. It's the equivalent of having good intentions. Good intentions, by themselves, are worthless. It's a similar thing to when someone says, "Oh, he's a really smart guy, he just never gets anything done." Who cares how "smart" you are if you can't follow through with it.
Some Christians might ask about when Jesus talks about the interior life, i.e. in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. For example, if Jesus says that looking at a woman with lust is the same thing as committing adultery with her, then isn't Jesus saying our intentions are important? Yes and no. Define your terms! The intentions we ascribe as being "good intentions" are usually just fleeting thoughts. These thoughts are only good intentions when we act on them. We will return to those in just a minute, but suffice it to say that good intentions can only be good when follow through with action.
So what would be the big deal with thinking a certain way about a person of the opposite sex then? When we engage in malicious or sinful thoughts we are actually performing an action. As Christians, the first specific action includes a willful disobedience to the work of the Holy Spirit. When we choose to follow Christ as his disciples, we are gifted with the presence of the Holy Spirit. He encourages us to live in right relationship with God and other people. At this point, we all know that God calls us to fidelity and faithfulness. When we choose to indulge lust and other sinful thoughts we are changing the character and shape of our souls. The Holy Spirit wants to form in us a Christ shaped soul, and we are literally changing it into a sin shaped soul! Paul refers to this in Galatians as following the flesh or sarx, but I would simply say that it is becoming sin-like in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Ouch.
The reason good intentions are meaningless is that we are already filled with the capacity to do good things once the Holy Spirit indwells us. There is no added value to our thoughts which are already good by the very nature of the Holy Spirit. The meaning comes when we submit those thoughts to the person of the Holy Spirit and act on them in some way.
So, what about those cases where I have what would normally be called a good intention but something prevents me from following through on it? For example, let's say I want to clean part of the house before my wife comes home so that she has less stress tonight. However, my children ending up getting sick and I am prevented from doing the cleaning. In order for this good intention to carry any meaning I must attach an action to it- for example telling my wife or a good friend what I was planning. Why does this telling change anything? It helps hold me accountable so that I will actually do what I said I will do. Then, when I am afforded the opportunity I will follow through with the rest of the action. If I fail to follow through when I have an opportunity, then we see what kind of intention I really had.
Resolutions and intentions only matter in terms of our actions. By the way, this is how we form habits, but that's a post for another day.
If I say I resolve to do something, but never take an action I can still say I made a resolution. It's the equivalent of having good intentions. Good intentions, by themselves, are worthless. It's a similar thing to when someone says, "Oh, he's a really smart guy, he just never gets anything done." Who cares how "smart" you are if you can't follow through with it.
Some Christians might ask about when Jesus talks about the interior life, i.e. in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. For example, if Jesus says that looking at a woman with lust is the same thing as committing adultery with her, then isn't Jesus saying our intentions are important? Yes and no. Define your terms! The intentions we ascribe as being "good intentions" are usually just fleeting thoughts. These thoughts are only good intentions when we act on them. We will return to those in just a minute, but suffice it to say that good intentions can only be good when follow through with action.
So what would be the big deal with thinking a certain way about a person of the opposite sex then? When we engage in malicious or sinful thoughts we are actually performing an action. As Christians, the first specific action includes a willful disobedience to the work of the Holy Spirit. When we choose to follow Christ as his disciples, we are gifted with the presence of the Holy Spirit. He encourages us to live in right relationship with God and other people. At this point, we all know that God calls us to fidelity and faithfulness. When we choose to indulge lust and other sinful thoughts we are changing the character and shape of our souls. The Holy Spirit wants to form in us a Christ shaped soul, and we are literally changing it into a sin shaped soul! Paul refers to this in Galatians as following the flesh or sarx, but I would simply say that it is becoming sin-like in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Ouch.
The reason good intentions are meaningless is that we are already filled with the capacity to do good things once the Holy Spirit indwells us. There is no added value to our thoughts which are already good by the very nature of the Holy Spirit. The meaning comes when we submit those thoughts to the person of the Holy Spirit and act on them in some way.
So, what about those cases where I have what would normally be called a good intention but something prevents me from following through on it? For example, let's say I want to clean part of the house before my wife comes home so that she has less stress tonight. However, my children ending up getting sick and I am prevented from doing the cleaning. In order for this good intention to carry any meaning I must attach an action to it- for example telling my wife or a good friend what I was planning. Why does this telling change anything? It helps hold me accountable so that I will actually do what I said I will do. Then, when I am afforded the opportunity I will follow through with the rest of the action. If I fail to follow through when I have an opportunity, then we see what kind of intention I really had.
Resolutions and intentions only matter in terms of our actions. By the way, this is how we form habits, but that's a post for another day.
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