Before writing this post, I did some quick research on what experts believe is the percentage of New Year’s resolutions that fail. The overwhelming consensus? Eighty percent. That means 80% of the people who try to make a change in their lives this time of year will fail to succeed—and most will have given up before March.
Those are not great odds. Imagine battling an illness where only 20% will survive or taking an exam at school where the failure rate is 80%. Not very motivating if you want to make your New Year’s Resolutions stick for once in your life. But this is about more than the flimsy hope of midwinter change. This is an issue for anyone looking to make personal growth any time of the year.
Fortunately, for Christian teens, there is an answer. And it’s not that outrageous.
Hi, I’m Lauren Thell, author of Christian YA fiction and blogger for teens who are ready to exceed the world’s expectations.
In This Article
Self-Improvement for Christian Teens: How to Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick
In light of the bleak statistics, Harvard Health Publishing published an article called Seven steps for making your New Year’s resolutions stick. The article gives suggestions such as breaking big goals into smaller goals, giving yourself rewards for meeting each milestone, and comparing the pros and cons of making a particular change.
Other sites suggest choosing a “word of the year” instead of making a resolution. For example, if you’re fighting a strong drive for perfectionism, your word for the year might be gentle, and you would repeat it to yourself daily as a reminder to be easy on yourself and let things go once in a while.
These are solid suggestions, and the act of creating New Year’s resolutions (or any-time-of-the-year resolutions) is still a good idea. But all the above ignore a crucial ingredient for success, one that can best be summed up in one of my favorite quotes:
“The secret of the life of a tree is that it remains rooted in something other and deeper than itself.”
The Bible has a similar quote:
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
Proverbs 16:3
You Don’t Have to Change…
You are guilt-free even if your personal rate of New Year’s resolution failure is closer to 100%, because of Jesus.
Let me first remind you that, as a Christian, you don’t have to succeed at anything. All your sins, your failures, the times when you tried to change but couldn’t, and all the times you didn’t try but should’ve—all of that has been wiped from your dirty hands, leaving you whole and perfect in God’s sight, because of Jesus. (See my post How Do I Know if I Am Acceptable to God?) You are guilt-free even if your personal rate of New Year’s resolution failure is closer to 100% because you were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
God loves you! You don’t have to be perfect to come before him. You don’t even have to be good.
Just come and let him make you good and perfect.
…But You Should Want to Change
Genuine faith must be accompanied by a Christian lifestyle.
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?”
James 2:14
If you truly believe in Christ as your savior, don’t use his gift of salvation as a license to abuse God’s love. Christian teens have an obligation to strive for excellence and personal growth, which often requires resolving to change.
What do you struggle with? Emotional eating that has led to weight gain? Foul language? Road rage? An addiction to pornography? A fetish with social media? Gossip?
You have an obligation to your Heavenly Father to do what you can to buck the 80% failure rate.
The Critical Step
To Harvard Health Publishing’s list of seven steps for making your New Year’s resolutions stick, I now add an eighth:
Make Christ the foundation of your plans.
Commit yourself to Jesus. Like the aforementioned tree, you must be rooted in something other and deeper than yourself or you will certainly be blown away by the next wind, the next temptation, or the next roadblock. This involves a commitment to regular prayer and scripture reading. Do this first before taking any other steps, and the Holy Spirit will level up your game.
Further, you can make your New Year’s resolutions stick and your plans for personal growth actually succeed when you do for Jesus. Show him you love him by striving to be the person he set you free to be.
On that note, I’m excited to share with you seven power verses for success in my post What is Genuine Confidence—And Where Can I Get Some? Lead the way to victory with Christ at your side!
Self-Improvement For Christian Teens: More Resources
You don’t have to have all the answers.
But, hey, why not?
Bring me your questions about faith, life, God, the Bible… and I’ll help you find the answers.
Tackle your latest self-change project and make your New Year’s resolutions stick with these helpful posts:
- Desiring God As The Ultimate Source of Pleasure: While the main topic of this article is lust, the points made here can be applied to anything that we cling to stronger than God.
- Self-Control: Draw Your Weapon, Make the Enemy Flee
- Change Your Thought Patterns: The Dangerous Rut
Godspeed on your journey!