There’s something exciting about the New Year! A new year means a fresh start — a time for new beginnings. Many of us set New Year’s resolutions hoping to make real change: get in shape, find a new job, build new relationships, and more. The New Year is exciting because hope springs eternal!
But tragically, researchers have found that 92% of New Year’s resolutions fail. Hope always springs… but reality usually sets in. We just can’t seem to change.
Discouraged yet? Don’t be. My goal isn’t to bring you down — it’s to point you toward something better. I want you to experience real, lasting change, not the short-lived kind that fades by February. If we want true transformation, we can’t keep doing the same things and expecting different results. We need a new approach.
At the heart of every resolution lies self-trust. We resolve, through our own effort and willpower, to be different this time. We tell ourselves, “I’ll be more disciplined,” or “I’ll finally stick to it.” That’s the same mistake the children of Israel made thousands of years ago.
After God delivered them from Egypt, He invited them into a living relationship with Him. But they were afraid of hearing His voice directly, so they told Moses, “You go talk to God for us. Tell us what He wants, and we’ll do it.”(Exodus 20:19).
Instead of choosing relationship, they chose rules. And that led to the Old Covenant, which was based on performance — if they did good, God would bless them; if they did bad, they’d be cursed.
How did that work out? Failure after failure. Why? Because the law depends on self-effort. It’s about trusting in our own ability to be good — and natural human effort always falls short.
For nearly 2,000 years, Israel’s story repeated the same cycle: Commit to God → Fail → Feel shame → Run from God → Cry out for mercy → Be delivered → Recommit to God. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Interestingly, the longer Israel lived under the law, the worse things became. For example, in the book of Judges, they went through that same “lather, rinse, repeat” cycle seven times. By the end of the book, the nation had fallen into civil war and nearly wiped out the tribe of Benjamin.
Why? Because, as 1 Corinthians 15:56 says, “The strength of sin is the law.” The harder the Israelites tried to live for God through self-effort, the more they failed. Trying harder doesn’t lead to victory — it actually empowers failure.
So what is the better way?
Hebrews 8 tells us about a new and better covenant — one based on Jesus’s performance, not ours. Instead of striving, we simply believe. In this new covenant, God puts His Spirit inside us and transforms us from the inside out.
That’s the gospel, which is the “almost too good to be true” news! So this year, I want to encourage you: don’t be resolved. Instead, be at rest — dependent on Jesus and confident in His grace.
Spend time with God. Let His grace change you from the inside out. The Holy Spirit flows best where there’s peace, not pressure. Great resolve creates great tension — and tension restricts movement, even His.
I believe God is saying to many of us this New Year: “Rest in Me. There’s life in relationship with Me. As you rest in My grace, real change will flow.”
Instead, be at rest — connected to Jesus and confident in His grace and His ability — not your own. This is what will make 2026 amazing! If you would like to learn more, check out this message from 2018 about how the grace of God changes us. It’s an oldie, but a goodie!
