I really don't like new year's resolutions. They are completely worthless in my mind, at least for me personally. They are not conducive to my personality - I'm either going to do something or I'm not. I'm not going to sit down and make a list of things I hope to accomplish. I've tried them in the past and the minute I fail, I give in to self-condemnation and swear them off anyway so I figure why bother? I'm better off by just quietly determining to do something rather than making a list of goals.
There is one thing, though, that I keep coming back to when I think about this coming year. It's a prayer from John Piper's book Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ. (And because Piper is incredibly gracious, you can download the entire book in PDF format from his website - he's got oodles of other amazing free resources, too, including many of his other books in their entirety.) A friend from college gave it to me years ago and it ended up being one of those books that has more things underlined than it doesn't. At the conclusion of each chapter he wrote, he included a prayer. I pulled it out a few weeks ago because I wanted to include a line from it in a gift I was giving to a friend. I think this prayer is ultimately what I want for 2013 - for myself, for those around me, for my church. Maybe it's one you'll spend praying for the year as well.
Almighty and merciful God, we exult in the reflection of your might and mercy in your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. We rejoice in the strength of his lion-like power and in the tenderness of his lamb-like meekness. We take heart from his incomparable combination of excellencies. It reassures us that there is none like him, and that he is not a mere man like others. O grant us, in our brash indifference, to tremble before the Lion of Judah and to humble ourselves under his fierce holiness. And grant us, in our brokenness and fear, to gather courage from the lion-like Lamb. Oh, how we need the whole Christ! Open our eyes to see the fullness of his excellence. Remove the lopsided and distorted images of your Son that weaken our worship and lame our obedience. May the power of the Lion and the love of the Lamb make our faith in Christ unshakable. So deliver us from small dreams and timid ventures and halting plans. Embolden us. Strengthen us. Make us love with fierce and humble love. Let us share the confidence of the Lion of Judah that gave him the will to die like a Lamb and rise in everlasting joy. And in it all, grant that all might see the glory of Christ and that you might be honored through him. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Here's to 2013 being a year when we love with fierce and humble love.
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