2020-12-28 Engage Students - Are New Year's Resolutions Bad for You

Setting New Year's resolutions can often lead to disappointment and insecurity if we fail to meet the expectations we set for ourselves. The purpose of the law in the Bible, like the Ten Commandments, is not for us to achieve perfection, but to show us how sinful we are. We cannot meet a perfect standard, but we are accepted by God through Jesus' sacrifice. Instead of listening to the voice that condemns us, we should immerse ourselves in God's word and focus on learning more about Him. It's not about making the best version of ourselves, but about getting to know God and becoming more like Christ. Have you ever tried to set a New Year's resolution? It's this idea of new year, new you, new goals. Sometimes I have set goals for myself for as a New Year's resolution, very rarely, but when I have, I always end up disappointed and feeling more insecure than if I had made no goal at all because now I've made an expectation and I've failed it. So sometimes the awareness of the standard actually makes us feel worse than if we didn't know this standard at all. And maybe this is what they mean when they say ignorance is bliss. You know, the Bible actually has something to say about this too, when it talks about sin and the Old Testament law. If we jump to Romans chapter 3, verses 19 to 20, it says this, Obviously the law applies to those whom it was given. For its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. So the purpose of the law, like the Ten Commandments and all that stuff in the Bible, wasn't for us to like, get it all right. I mean, obviously, we should aim to get it all right. The Ten Commandments have some really important things to say, like, you know, don't be coveting, that means like jealous of one another, or stealing, or you know, harming each other. You know, Jesus said that the idea of loving God and loving each other sums up all those commands, and those are important things to do. But the thing is, and the point here that the Apostle Paul is saying when he wrote Romans, is that we can't meet a perfect standard. We're going to blow it. Let's all just breathe in. Relax, okay? If you've messed it up, welcome to the human race. You know, often knowing this standard that the Bible looks for in what we call the law makes us just feel like we've failed them, and makes us feel like we can't be accepted by God unless we keep it all. But the truth is, you and I are accepted by God because Jesus paid the price for our sin by becoming a sacrifice for us and dying on the cross. The question is, are we accepting the free gift that God gave to us? That is salvation through Jesus Christ. Because a lot of the people watching this video right now, whether you're a part of our Engaged Student Ministry, or you just somehow came across our YouTube channel, a lot of you are most likely Christians. But you also low-key constantly are judging yourself for failing the standard set out in these commandments. Or whether or not you think of it as these commandments, just the things you know are right. I want to let you know that the voice that condemns you inside your head is not you judging yourself, but it's the enemy, it's the devil. He's trying to accuse you. He wants to make us feel like we've blown it, we've messed it up, Jesus forgave us before, but he can't forgive us now, as if somehow his sacrifice doesn't apply once for all, which scripture says it does. So instead of listening to the voice that accuses you, immerse yourself in God's word, not those negative words and rehearsing over and over, just telling yourself you're so bad. Instead, immerse yourself in God's word, scripture, the Bible. And not just the encouraging Bible verses that make you feel good and tell you God is with you, don't worry, God loves you. Those are all great, but the whole Bible is meant for teaching, and the Bible says it's meant for teaching, rebuking, growing. It's edifying, not just the encouraging words, and it's all meant to be read and understood, because the thing is that when we look for these words in the Bible that encourage us, we are looking for the Bible to be about us, when realistically the Bible isn't about you and I, it's primarily about God. It's his story, like the word history, it's his story. It's not our story. We are backup characters. We are secondary, and we're along for the ride with him. That doesn't mean we're not important. We're so important to God, he loves us, but it's about him. So we immerse ourselves in scripture, not just the parts we want to hear, but what the Bible has to say so that we can know more and more about God. Because the thing is, when we focus on like behavior modification, in other words, changing the way we act so that we can feel better about ourselves and stop feeling insecure, it's just this never-ending cycle because it's this standard that's like this mix of what we believe is right and wrong, what actually is right and wrong, and this sort of made-up standard that we have for ourselves that God is not holding us to because of Christ's sacrifice. Obviously, we should endeavor to do good, but we don't have to beat ourselves up over the wrong thing. We just need to focus on what God wants for us. We just need to focus on what God wants because it's about him. It's not about us. And when we focus on learning more about him and plugging into his story rather than into our story of getting it right or wrong, then these things start to flow more naturally because we're doing them from a motivation of learning more about God and learning to become more like Christ rather than becoming the best us we can be. You see, the Bible is not a motivational speaker's book. It's God's book. And sometimes it motivates us as it should, and that's awesome. But it's about him. It's not about making the best version of us. It's so much as it is about getting to know him. And through getting to know Christ and having a closer relationship and walk with God, that's how we will become our best selves. I sincerely believe that, guys. Anyways, guys, those are my thoughts. I hope you take them to heart, that you take them to prayer, and that you get in the word, not just the parts that make you happy. Stay awesome. God bless.