I must confess, I am not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. Any goal worth setting is worth setting on November 1st, December 1st, or February 1st. Making a goal simply because it’s a new year is usually not a good sign it will be taken seriously beyond January 15th. 

But I also know God is a God of seasons, so taking inventory of our values and asking God to help us reset our priorities is always a good thing - whether that is weekly, monthly, quarterly, or at the turn of a New Year.

Here are four tips for doing it: 

1. Be sure the purpose of the goal is God’s glory. 

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Colossians 3:17

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.+ - 1 Corintihans 10:31

You can do just about anything for Gods glory, and you can do just about anything - even “holy” activities - for the wrong reasons. 

In fact, right-sounding goals for the wrong reasons can lead us away from the growth God wants to do in us. 

For example, let's say you want to lose 50 pounds by the summertime. I might ask you why. If your reason is because you want to look good on the beaches of Punta Cana, I might challenge you to consider if vanity is the motivator. And vanity is not a motivator you should feed.

But if you want to lose weight by the summertime in order to be a better steward of your body and be more active with your kids, or be more attractive for your spouse (not just while in Punta Cana), that changes things. 

If the goal is to make more money by working more hours each week, that could be good. But it depends on the reason, and that requires us to be honest with ourselves. Is it about social status? Is it about keeping up with someone who we're envious of? 

Or is to be more generous? Is it to fund another goal God has called you to? 

Be honest and ask yourself tough questions. 

2. Set goals based on outputs, not just outcomes.  

It’s one thing to say you want to lose fifty pounds by summer. That’s OUTCOME. But it's an outcome that won’t just happen unless there is a plan for OUTPUT. 

An "output" goal would be to work out three days a week for six months straight. That goal is about being faithful with what you can do, while putting the results in God's hands. 

For example, if you want to understand the bible better (outcome), you can journal or take notes each time you read (output) to help you process what you've read and work toward understanding the bible better.

One more example. Let's say you want to be more generous with your money. Maybe you want to have a few hundred to give to others when they hit financial roadlbocks (outcomes). Great. That honors God. But then make an output goal, like spending 100 less each month on eating out, and instead setting up a savings account that automatically takes 100 out of your checking each month. Every few months, you’ll be ready to give a few hundred to someone who hits a rough patch.

Outcomes are what we pray for. Outputs are about our faithfulness to partner with God in what we're praying for. 

3. Include relationship goals.

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31) 

The great commission includes making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).

He said he came to seeking to save the lost (Luke 19:10), and that he is sending us out into the world as the Father has sent him (John 20:21). 

Whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert, you’re called to invest in relationships with people.

And because of the time in which we live where we can be socially connected to so many people, it’s easy to fall to the temptation to be spread too thin, and to keep relationships shallow.

Plus, we all have our limits. Some of us have small kids and others are empty-nesters. Some of us have spouses that require much of our relational bandwith, while others are single. 

Some of us are introverted and need more time alone. Some of us are extroverted and can handle more relationships / need more relationships. 

Sometimes those limits need to be stretched. Extroverts can sometimes sacrifice deep relationships by wanting to be around too many people too often. Introverts can sacrifice deep relationships when they justify their hibernation by saying "I'm just an introvert."

Either way, we all have a need to be intentional about who we spend our time with.

In Mark chapter 1, Jesus got alone to pray, and when the disciples found him, they exclaimed that "everyone is looking for you" (Mark 1:37). Jesus said they had to move on to another town. It was a new day, and there were more villages they had to get to. They couldn't go back to Capernaum just becasue everyone was looking for him. 

Additionally, Jesus spent more time with the 12 apostles than he did with the rest of his disciples. He spent more time with Peter, James and John than the other 9 apostles. And some people were one-off encounters, like the demon-oppressed man in Mark 5 or the Samaritan woman in John 4. 

Covenant friendships can foster growth and development. If our goal is to grow in the fullness of Christ, that can look different from year to year. We may be led to invest in a group of 10 friends one year and just focus on a new co-worker in the next year, which would take time away from other friends. 

A year ago a retired pastor asked me to be in a mentor group he had. I told him about the various coaching and mentoring I was already getting, and his response was that I didn’t need anymore. I agreed.

But a year later, things have changed. One of the guys who was mentoring me is no longer able to. I might call that guy from a year ago back up. Something I’m going to pray about.

And that leads me to the last one. 

4. Make goals about prayer.

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." - Mark 1:35. 

If God the Son needed time with God the Father and God the Spirit, how much more do we need time to pray and allow God to show us what our priorities should be?

In other words, setting a goal for prayer can help us discern what all our other goals should be.

In the beginning of True Life Church, we used to come out of Christmas trying to cast vision for all our big goals. I would preach a series in January about our 12, 10 or 7 goals for the year. Around 2019 we made a switch. We realized that it's not very wise to come out of a busy December into a time of goal-setting. It felt rushed. Impulsive.

First we need space to pray.

So January has been a time for us as a church to NOT set goals or put too many things on the calendar. Insead, we want to seek God. What should our priorities be this year? How will that affect our budget?

It looks different every year - sometimes it was a sermon series for our whole church, sometimes we just ask individuals to be praying  -- but that has been our rhythm: 1) Pray in January; 2) Brainstorm in February; 3) Set goals in March. 

Same for me personally. The month of January tends to be a month to pray about what the priorities for the rest of the year should be.

In a sense, I don’t try to have "New Year’s resolutions" until February.

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In summary: 

- Set a goal for your prayer rhythms (when and where you will pray) and prayer focuses (what you need to seek God's heart about)  

- Pray about who God wants you to invest in, be mentored by, and spend time with, as well as how often (roughly) for each person. Allow room for divine interruptions. 

- Pray about areas of character growth which God highlighted in 2023. 

- Pray about how to steward resources of time, money, homes, etc. 

- Pray about any new endeavor, mission, adventure or hobby you want to embark on, and ask God to check your motives. 

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Happy New Year!