Beloved,
All of us make resolutions. We might not call them resolutions or think of them as resolutions, but unless you are drifting through life in passive resignation, you are striving after objectives that you deem worthy of your pursuit. And undergirding that striving, pursuing, or resolving is a worldview. We saw that briefly last Sunday in our AM sermon. I want to follow up here by explaining what that looks like for me personally.
Undergirding every goal or resolution I make are four realities: (1) my core identity, (2) my core purpose, (3) my core principles, and (4) my core calling. I admit I’m a bit of a productivity junky, but I have found it incredibly helpful to think in these categories so as to make sure I am running in the proper course and pursuing the right objectives in the right way (these are all biblical categories, after all!). Here is how I define each:
CORE IDENTITY
I am an eternally loved son of God, justified and sanctified in Christ Jesus, to the praise of my Father’s glory.
CORE PURPOSE
To promote the eternal and temporal good of others in self-giving love unto the glory of God.
CORE PRINCIPLES
- Delighting in God and dying to sin (Ps. 37:4; Col. 3:5).
- Cultivating stillness of soul before God and unto God (Ps. 46:10).
- Expressing continual dependence upon the Lord through prayer (Acts 6:4; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Cor. 15:10).
- Bringing every thought, desire, and action into subjection to Christ’s word (2 Cor. 10:5).
- Considering others as more important than myself (Phil. 2:3-8).
- Watching against and resisting the devil, conscious of the spiritual battle at hand (Eph. 6:10-18; 1 Pet. 5:8-9).
- Courageously pressing forward in the face of obstacles, not growing weary in the Lord’s work (Jos. 1:9; Gal. 6:9).
- Structuring my schedule around the important, not the urgent (Mk. 1:35-39; Acts 6:1-7).
- Embracing the God-ordained rhythms of daily and weekly rest (Ps. 127:2; Gen. 2:1-3).
- Making the most of every God-given opportunity (Eph. 5:15-16).
- Being focused on and fully engaged in the task at hand (Eccl. 9:10).
- Living in an organized and intentional manner (Prov. 6:6-8).
- Keeping my near-approaching funeral in sight (Ps. 90:12).
- Hoping in the God who will establish my feeble endeavors for His glory (Ps. 90:17; 1 Cor. 15:58).
CORE CALLING
- Personal: to whole-heartedly follow Christ and to lead Tessa and the boys to do the same.
- Vocational: to build up Christ’s church through God-dependent prayer and the God-exulting exposition and application of Scripture.
My core identity (in the most basic sense, who am I?), my core purpose (in the broadest sense, why am I here?), my core principles (what standards ought to govern how I live?), and my core calling (what has God specifically commissioned me to do?) provide the bedrock for the particular goals and resolutions I make. Without this foundation, I inevitably pursue the wrong things in the wrong ways and fail to pursue the right things in the right ways.
It is the same with you. And while it may seem tedious, there is something incredibly helpful about putting these things into your own words and having them before you regularly (even memorizing them!). For we can’t afford to be foggy brained and forgetful when it comes to matters of such weight and significance!
I encourage you to write out your own core identity, purpose, principles, and calling, and then to think, along the lines of 2 Thessalonians 1:11, about what good God might have you to resolve after. Why? As Paul says in the following verse, “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Can’t wait to be with you on Sunday!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Nick