A Better Way
This week our Words for Wednesday was written by our guest author, Mikal Duncan. Happy New Year! Enjoy!
Happy New Year! It’s 2025! Are you thinking about making some new year’s resolutions? According to Pew Research data, three in ten Americans made at least one resolution last January. They reportedly focused on self-improvement: their health, finances, personal interests, and careers. That’s a lot of self-improvements!
But are resolutions really a good way to pursue better habits and goals? Drive Research reports that "92% of adults will not follow through on a resolution." And "23% of adults quit their New Year's goals by the end of the first week of January."
So, why aren’t resolutions very useful or even effective. Maybe the focus is all wrong. Maybe the fresh new year ahead of us isn’t about us at all! Have we already forgotten what we learned from the manger this past Christmas?
The manger should have humbled us and taught us that our focus should not be on ourselves but on the One who came to rescue us by being born in that manger. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28)
So, what should we do? Certainly, a new year’s resolution isn’t the answer. The answer is given multiple times, repeated word-for-word, throughout the Bible: Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8. And when something is repeated that many times in God’s word, we know it’s important.
What is the answer? Jesus himself gave the answer in Matthew 22:37-40: “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. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Keeping these two commandments satisfies all the law and the Ten Commandments. While the “greatest commandment” deals with the relationship between you and God, the second commandment deals with the relationship between you and everyone else (AKA, “your neighbor”). James 2:8 calls the command to love your neighbor as yourself “The Royal Law”.
Unlike new year’s resolutions, the focus of the Greatest Commandment and the Royal Law is not self or even self-improvement. Instead, the wise and powerful focus of these commands is loving and serving God and others. No need for resolutions. Keeping these two greatest commandments is the answer to any question.
May this “Words for Wednesday” serve as a reminder and an invitation to make serving God and our community an intentional goal in 2025 and beyond.
May God bless and inspire us “royally”.
Your sister,
Mikal
Happy New Year! It’s 2025! Are you thinking about making some new year’s resolutions? According to Pew Research data, three in ten Americans made at least one resolution last January. They reportedly focused on self-improvement: their health, finances, personal interests, and careers. That’s a lot of self-improvements!
But are resolutions really a good way to pursue better habits and goals? Drive Research reports that "92% of adults will not follow through on a resolution." And "23% of adults quit their New Year's goals by the end of the first week of January."
So, why aren’t resolutions very useful or even effective. Maybe the focus is all wrong. Maybe the fresh new year ahead of us isn’t about us at all! Have we already forgotten what we learned from the manger this past Christmas?
The manger should have humbled us and taught us that our focus should not be on ourselves but on the One who came to rescue us by being born in that manger. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28)
So, what should we do? Certainly, a new year’s resolution isn’t the answer. The answer is given multiple times, repeated word-for-word, throughout the Bible: Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8. And when something is repeated that many times in God’s word, we know it’s important.
What is the answer? Jesus himself gave the answer in Matthew 22:37-40: “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. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Keeping these two commandments satisfies all the law and the Ten Commandments. While the “greatest commandment” deals with the relationship between you and God, the second commandment deals with the relationship between you and everyone else (AKA, “your neighbor”). James 2:8 calls the command to love your neighbor as yourself “The Royal Law”.
Unlike new year’s resolutions, the focus of the Greatest Commandment and the Royal Law is not self or even self-improvement. Instead, the wise and powerful focus of these commands is loving and serving God and others. No need for resolutions. Keeping these two greatest commandments is the answer to any question.
May this “Words for Wednesday” serve as a reminder and an invitation to make serving God and our community an intentional goal in 2025 and beyond.
May God bless and inspire us “royally”.
Your sister,
Mikal
Recent
Archive
2025
2024
January
February
September
2023
June
Categories
no categories
No Comments