By: Shane James O’Neill

An Old Resolution

I remember back when my New Year’s resolutions would be to pursue an X number of women that year. Most of the time it was an unspoken and unwritten resolution. Other times it was an active boast and wager among friends.

Man, what a shameful way to be a human. 

New Year’s resolutions can often work that way: if the content isn’t shameful then the very practice of making a list that we’ll mostly fail at, will be shameful. 

How many times have you been ashamed of your actions and resolutions? And how many times have you set goals and failed?

Making a to-do-list won’t fix you; it won’t erase your past, it won’t change your desires. But it is a valuable piece of the journey when we put it in the right lighting. 

A New Solution

A significant aspect of the Gospel is that Jesus came to show us a humanity we’ve always longed to be, but a humanity we’ve never been able to be. Jesus was able to speak without a hint of pretense, he never reacted to people out of personal guilt or shame, his laugh was always true, his tears were never self-conscious.

To this day, Jesus’s gentleness enrages the hearts of the prideful, even as His violent Cross offers peace to the ends of the earth.

Jesus is the true Adam, the true Human.

Jesus is what we were meant to be, and Jesus is the only way to become who we’ve always longed to be. And what’s cool is that Jesus looks at every one of us and says: “Come, follow me.”

A New Resolution

We’ve all engaged disciplines that have us imagine where we want to be 1 year from now, and there is a place on Jesus’ path for that kind of exploration. But first Jesus invites you to imagine who you want to be 1 year from now.

What chains do you want to be free of? What kind of imagination do you want to have? What relationships do you want restored? If you can journey through those questions with Jesus then He will take you to where you want to be — a truer you, a truer humanity.

Jesus will forge keys to unlock your chains, He will landscape the matrix of your imagination, and He will work reconciliation into your relationships.

Our actions reflect our vision. Don’t practice new actions without sitting with Jesus and receiving that new vision. You’re not who you were meant to be but if you can imagine yourself becoming like Jesus, true Human, then Jesus will take you there.

Use the Proven Workbook to re-vision yourself. Continue to receive 18% off the Proven Workbook Here with promo code NEWYEAR18

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Shane James O’Neill is the Editorial Director for ProvenMen Ministries. He is currently working on a graduate degree in apologetics at Liberty University’s Rawling School of Divinity.