Do you, like me, begin on January first with a New Year’s Resolution, then usually find yourself failing to follow through after a few days or weeks?
The whole idea of a fresh start is so appealing. Why, then, is it so hard to stick with that commitment? Resolving to eat less sugar, get more exercise, watch less TV, read the Bible more – whatever – I start out great, but eventually find myself slipping back into the old behavior pattern. How discouraging.
One morning, disappointed again in my lack of follow-through on the latest “self-improvement plan,” I came upon this very familiar, but momentarily forgotten, verse: “…He who began a good work in you is able to accomplish it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). I realized that instead of letting the Holy Spirit work in me, I had been trying to perfect myself through my own efforts. This verse woke me up, and I turned my need for changes over to God.
In Galatians 3:2-3 Paul spoke very severely to the believers when he saw them trying to fix themselves by their own efforts. “You foolish Galatians… Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?” The issue for the Galatian Christians was circumcision and following certain Jewish laws, but we 21st century Christians have our own ways of trying to perfect ourselves “by the flesh,” and they are equally ineffective.
But here’s the good news. Falling from grace does not mean falling into sin, or failing to meet our self-imposed goals for improving ourselves. No. It means trying to change ourselves through our own efforts, instead of relying on God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul told the Galatians, “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). In another letter he writes, “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6).
Think about this. How did we receive Him? By grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Could we save ourselves? No. Nor can we truly change ourselves. When we start thinking we can, we’re taking the first step down that slippery slope from grace to works.
On the other hand, when we allow God to change our heart, over time we will notice our attitudes and behavior changing almost effortlessly. We will be walking in grace, not falling from it.
Maybe the best resolution for 2026 would be to allow God to change us from the inside out, the same way He saved us – by grace through faith.