New Years Resolutions? Yeah, Right!

My son and some of his friends were talking about the New Year and some changes they wanted to make in their lives. I shared with them a quote that I had ran across a few weeks back, "Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is raise your standards", by Tony Robbins. They were pretty receptive to that word and I began to think, that is a pretty good word for us all.

My dear friend, Steve Hines, was the first I ever heard quote this phrase, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got." Don't know where the origination of that came from (most likely the Holy Spirit!), but it is good too.

This New Years Day, many are planning to make changes in their lives for this year. We call them New Years Resolutions. I haven't been to big on those for a variety of reasons. I think it is because we miss the whole idea of making changes. If we want to make real changes in our lives, we must first, as Tony Robbins put it, "...raise our standards."

See, our standard in the Kingdom of God, is Jesus Christ Himself. In Hebrews 12:2, in the Message translation, it says, " Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because He never lost sight of where he was headed--that exhilarating finish in and with God--he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God." In another translation it says, "fixing our eyes on Jesus..." We are to keep our eyes on Jesus! Not the problems, not the solutions that the world tells us, not even our own strength or understanding! On Jesus! As we keep our gaze and attention on Him, we are then "...raising our standards." We look at so many things, and people, that we have clouded our own lives and vision.

If we really want change, we "raise our standards", then we quit "doing what we have always done." Again, we want change in our lives, but many times we think we can continue to do the same old things we have always done and still get the change we want! Where in the world did we ever get the idea we could do that!! If you want to grow apples, you have to plant apples. If you want green beans, plant green beans. The seed that you plant is what you are going to grow in your garden. If you don't like the things you are growing, plant something different! If you don't like the way your life has been, quit doing the things you have been doing!!

If you want real change in your life, first, raise your standards, then, stop doing things the way you have always done them.