New Year’s Resolution (noun): a promise that you make to yourself to start doing something good or stop doing something bad on the first day of the year (Cambridge Dictionaries Online).
Goals are always important in a person’s life. They help us grasp a better view as to what we hope our future, short or long term, will be. If used properly, it motivates us to work diligently and vigorously until we have accomplished our set goal. If taken seriously, we strive to reach them and they become a self-promise that must be kept. This is what makes the tradition of making New Year’s Resolutions so interesting. As our above definition describes, the purpose of this tradition is about making promises to ourselves of becoming better people in any and all aspects of our lives. This tradition, however, is not new nor is it ours. According to the history books, the practice of making self-promises at the beginning of the year can be traced back to the ancient Babylonians. This early civilization would commence their new year by making sacrifices to their gods and making vows that they would return borrowed objects and clear any debts they could have. The Romans would celebrate their new year by making oaths to the god Janus (Roman god of beginnings, transitions, and endings) of becoming better citizens of Rome. Even the Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: “head of the year”) is celebrated by making memory of the wrongs a person has done during the year seeking to obtain forgiveness, forgive any offenders, and create goals of self-improvement for the new year. Therefore, it is obvious that the practice of making promises at the beginning of the year for self-improvement has been alive for many centuries. What is also interesting in each of the older civilizations mentioned, is that the presence of a higher being was always acknowledged when making their promises or oaths. Whether they were offering sacrifices to their gods or seeking to obtain forgiveness and strength from God (in the case of the Jews), it is obvious that to them these promises made were taken very seriously. Hence the possible danger of practicing this tradition vainly. We must first establish that there is nothing wrong with making a New Year’s Resolution. As we have already said at the beginning of this article, goals are important to have in our lives. What we want to emphasize is that the danger lies in making an empty promise because we ignore the importance of a promise. Remember, according to our definition, this tradition revolves around making self-PROMISES in order to make us better people in all aspects of our lives. It is wise never to forget that when we make a promise God is present and He becomes a witness of that made promise; therefore He expects us to keep it (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5). The Hebrew word used in this text for vow is neder and it means “a promise (to God); also (concretely) a thing promised” (Strong, 5088). That is what makes the New Year’s Resolution delicate. The practice is a very healthy and positive one because it promotes growth at an individual level. However, like anything else in this world, man corrupts this tradition when he ignores the delicacy of taking a vow. When a person takes an oath or makes a vow, he is required to confirm it by a superior authority greater than himself (Hebrews 6:16). In other words, by taking such an action, man elevates the importance of his spoken word because he is making God (the superior authority of all of creation) his witness. He secures, if you will, the proper motivation required to keep his promise because God will not overlook the vain use of His name (Exodus 20:7). It is undoubtedly clear how dire it can be if we are not careful with our words. Our Lord Jesus taught us that it is not necessary to make an oath in order to prove our words true (Matthew 5:33-37). By stating, “let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’ ” He illustrates the importance of an honest man. A man who is known for his honesty does not have the necessity to swear or make an oath to prove his words true. His caution in the use of his words makes him wise and trustworthy. A man who’s words are never questioned, because his honesty is fully noted by all who know him. Therefore, making empty promises not only endangers us by using the name of God in vain, but it also discredits us as honest and holy men. When we make rash promises that we do not or cannot keep, we become liars and hypocrites (James 5:12). How then can we keep up this positive tradition without the risk of falling into judgment? We can start by taking a page from the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah. They celebrate the beginning of a new year by making memory of the past year. Seeing as the purpose of a resolution is to become better people in any and every aspect of our lives, it is wise to conduct a self-examination to be able to determine the areas that require the work (Lamentations 3:40-41). As we make righteous memory of the ways we conducted ourselves during the past year we will realize the mistakes that we made, but we will have a better idea of where we can begin to make a resolution. Let our focus be on things that are reasonable to reach and not farfetched. In 2007, an experiment held at the University of Bristol involving 3,000 participants revealed that only 12% of that group succeeded in fulfilling their set goals for the new year (Blame It on the Brain: The latest neuroscience research suggests spreading resolutions out over time is the best approach, Wall Street Journal, December 26, 2009). The reason for such a high failure rate? 35% of the participants set unrealistic goals for themselves. Making rash promises, in other words, is the primary cause of failing to keep them. Our God has left enough evidence for us to understand that we are to be cautious with what we promise so we can take them very seriously. If our purpose is to begin the new year by leaving a bad habit or focusing on our spiritual growth, then let us be realistic about how we are going to accomplish this task. If we choose to make ourselves a promise, then let us not follow the other 33% that lost focus on their goal or the 23% that did not care enough to remember the purpose of their “resolution.” Let us make goals that we can reach in this new year that can and will make us better children of God. Let us avoid making a promise and allow our word to be our bond. Let our growth begin by choosing our words carefully and not positioning ourselves in the danger of making an empty promise. The best way to begin our path to spiritual maturity is ensuring that our “Yes” be “Yes” and our “No,” “No.”