Just about everybody wants to change something about themselves. It seems that New Year is a good time as it is a kind of milestone, a marker that can keep us honest.

So, we resolve: I must clean out the cupboards. I must take the dog for a walk every day (or almost). I must go to bed before midnight. I must kick that habit. I must remember birthdays and anniversaries.

Good intentions — but…

We all know that these decisions more often than not fall into the ditch on the side of the road of life. We are determined to lose some weight. This will mean saying no to treats and various joys of eating. But our will power doesn’t bear the strain and little by little, the old ways are back with us and the weight is still there.

Perhaps we should put a sign on the fridge door as a constant reminder. Something like:

• Don’t eat just for the sake of it.
• You had chocolate yesterday, remember?
• No need to put all that butter on your bread.
• What about no ice cream today?
• Make a salad, and leave out the chips.

...Oh, dear, that’s hard.

Will power

There are those who, quite admirably, rid themselves of some habit or vice by sheer doggedness. We have heard of quite amazing changes that have not been reversed. But it would be safe to say they are a small minority. When it comes to any major changes, most of us find it is next to impossible to alter anything radically.

It is in our nature as human beings to be like this. Paul, a New Testament writer put it bluntly in one place. He said, “What I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”1 Frustrating, isn’t it?

Real change

Anyone who reads this paper has encountered a huge stream of people who have undergone change — for some, transformation. There are stories in every issue of folk who have battled to find keys and solutions to life needs and have at last found them in Christ. He is a real life changer. The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”2

Christmas reminds us that Jesus came into the world for the purpose of making available what we badly need: a new start, forgiveness, and a new power for living. All this, Jesus taught, lived, and then suffered and died to obtain for us.

There is no longer any need for us to live under the weight of futile effort to measure up; there is a Saviour. We reach Him by turning away from self-effort and trusting Him simply and implicitly.

What a great way that would be to start a new year!

References: (1) Romans 7, verse 19Romans 7, verse 19. (2) 2 Corinthians 5, verse 172 Corinthians 5, verse 17.