By JQuisumbing
A New Year’s resolution, according to Google, is a personal promise or intention made at the start of a new year to improve oneself, either by starting a good habit, stopping a bad one, or achieving a specific goal, leveraging the fresh start for self-improvement in areas like health, learning, or lifestyle.
When one decides to commit him/herself like this, whether they mean it or not, it is still a vow. And if you truly follow God, then you must always know and keep forefront in your mind, that God always takes vows seriously (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6). By the way, He wants you to take it seriously as well. What should we, as believers, do? Well, James, the half brother of Christ said it best.
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. (James 5:12 ESV)
The first part of the verse is simple enough to understand: JUST DON’T DO IT!
But the Lord God, the One who created us, knows full well that we will stumble into it. That is why James gave us a simple template for us to practice in our daily walk in this dark world: let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no.
So, as a rule, keep it simple and doable. Make them short term. And most importantly, DON’T GIVE UP.
Johann Quisumbing 