The human ego is one of our most self-destructive traits. Thinking we control things that we don’t causes us to fear and worry about things out of our hands. When we set our goals for 2025, I believe the very first step should be asking God to show us what they should be. The workers don’t write business plans and take it to the CEO to execute, do they? As children of God, our New Year’s resolutions should be divine commands, not a personal wish list.

Own my own, here would be my list: Lose 15 pounds, grow my business, finish reading the Bible. Now, let’s ask a simple question: why?

I want to lose 15 pounds so I’ll look better and feel better. I want to grow my business so I’ll have more money and feel more successful. I want to finish reading the Bible so I can say I’ve read the entire Bible and have more divine wisdom to help me navigate life. If I take this list to God and say “Lord, please help me accomplish this”, I imagine He’d reply “Why should I?”

I can play around until I think I’m aligning these somehow with God’s will. He wants me to be healthy and happy, so he’d want me to lose weight. He wants to bless me so surely He wants me to have more money so I can give and bless more people. Obviously, He wants me to know His Word and grow in my relationship with Him. But He knows those aren’t my real motives.

But I think it goes further than motivation. It’s about recognition and reverence for His righteousness and power. He doesn’t just want us to set our goals to align as best we can with His. Ultimately, I think He wants to set our goals for us. Not because He’s power hungry, but because He loves us and wants to help us achieve the right goals.

If God gives us a goal, the command itself is embedded with a promise for His power to fulfil it. He doesn’t fail, and He doesn’t set us up to. So, I just have one New Year’s resolution this year, and it’s not complicated. Obey God.