New Year's Resolutions

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. --Galatians 5:22-23a

That last one always gets me. Self-control. Of all the fruits of the Spirit, that's the one that my own spirit rebels against.

I've been thinking lately about New Year's resolutions. For most of my adult years I've decided against resolutions. People never keep them anyway. What's the use? This year, however, I feel a pull toward creating a list. And, that list is centered around my lack of self-control.

The context around the verse about the fruit of the Spirit has another lesson for me, though. Our own striving will never make us good enough. If we strive to save ourselves, we are making Christ's sacrifice irrelevant. We must live by the Spirit, and these wonderful things will be the result, not of our own striving, but of the Spirit's work within us.

So, with the Spirit's leading, I feel compelled to make this list. I will be praying that the Lord would work within me to help me accomplish these things to His glory.

1. Read the Bible every day. I will probably be reading from the One Year Bible.

2. Exercise and make an effort to feed my family healthier meals.

3. Make a budget and stick to it.

4. Find family time activities that don't involve sitting on the couch.

What are your New Year's resolutions?