I don’t know if you are into setting resolutions or not. I know many people have given up on the practice due to past frustrations. Personally, I believe they are an important practice due to the commandment the Savior gave us when he said: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). The thought of even attempting to be perfect can be an overwhelming one, but the translation of the Greek word for perfect means “complete, finished, fully developed.” To me, that means we should do our best to become the best person we can be; our version of perfect. How then can we become perfect, or more like our Heavenly Father except by continually setting and working towards resolutions or goals that can help us become so?
As I was thinking about making resolutions, I realized it is very much like the conversion process of faith, repentance, baptism and enduring to the end.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said "Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the 'high priest of good things to come' (Hebrews 9:11)." (The best Is Yet to Be, Ensign, January 2010) So to me, faith is the forward-looking principle that we can be and do better than we have been or done in the past.
Repentance is the change of heart we must experience to let go of our poor habits in order to replace them with better, more Christ-like habits that will serve and strengthen us.
Baptism is making a commitment to a new life. As you are buried in the water, you bury the old you and all the sins you have committed. When you rise up out of the water, you come up a new person committed to living the commandments and following the Savior. Like baptism, setting a resolution is burying the old you of yester-year and committing to arise a new and better person in the New Year.
Enduring to the end is pretty self-explanatory. Just like living the gospel is full of challenges and temptations, so is living your new resolution. It will take daily discipline, and, more than likely, frequent repentance at first as you work to continually improve until your resolution has become a habit; a new way of life. Jim Rohn taught that there are two kinds of pain: discipline and regret. The difference between the two is that discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons. Don’t get discouraged and hang in there when times get tough and you will overcome in the end.
Each week we take the sacrament to renew our baptismal covenants. By doing so we are reminded of the commitment that we have made to follow the Savior and to keep his commandments. I recommend that you read your resolutions on a weekly, if not daily, basis and renew your commitment to them. This will help you to always remember them and stay true to them when you face the daily decisions of life.
Gordon B. Hinckley issued the challenge when he said: "This is a time to make resolutions that will be binding upon you." I hope everyone who reads this will take up the challenge to make 2012 their best year yet by setting resolutions that they are committed to that will help them be better and do better than they have ever done before. I wish you the best in this New Year!
For more tips on how to make and keep your New Year's Resolutions, I invite you to visit The Millionaire Marathon blog and read the Celebrate 2008 blog series.
Gordon B. Hinckley issued the challenge when he said: "This is a time to make resolutions that will be binding upon you." I hope everyone who reads this will take up the challenge to make 2012 their best year yet by setting resolutions that they are committed to that will help them be better and do better than they have ever done before. I wish you the best in this New Year!
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For more tips on how to make and keep your New Year's Resolutions, I invite you to visit The Millionaire Marathon blog and read the Celebrate 2008 blog series.
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