Normally when you think of New Year’s resolutions, you think of a long list of goals in different categories. For our New Year’s Bible study, though, I’d like you to take just one of those goals and focus your renewing of the mind efforts on it.
Our goal isn’t just the goal itself, but also the process – learning how to go to God for growth, for strength, for advice, for comfort, and just to be cherished.
Because this process can be time consuming, it’s important to choose a goal you care about. One you’d really like to accomplish so you’ll be willing to put in the effort to work on it until the process itself becomes enjoyable.
Some goals are easier to reach than others. For example, I’ve found it to be much easier to break free from negative emotions such as anger or worry than from habits like procrastination and overeating. So if you feel like you’d like a project that would be a little easier, you might want to choose an emotion.
Here’s a worksheet you can use if you’re having a difficult time coming up with a goal to work on. It’s adapted from the renewing of the mind project worksheet I posted earlier last year.
Choosing a New Year’s Resolution
1. What areas of your life cause you the most stress?
2. Why do they stress you out?
3. Can you think of any good habits you’d like to develop?
4. Can you think of any bad habits, sins, or idols you’d like to break free from?
5. Of the following negative emotions and attitudes, list the ones you’ve been struggling with the most lately: Worry, stress, anger, annoyance, frustration, self-condemnation, self-pity, people pleasing, insecurity in general, discontentment, envy, pride, judgment, and/or a critical spirit.
6. Think of your family, friends, and others. How could you love them better?
7. Think of your relationship with God. How could you love Him better?
8. Look back over your answers to the first seven questions. If you could set one goal for the year and be guaranteed you could reach it (which is of course impossible), which goal would you choose?
9. Why would you choose that goal?
10. Which goal do you think God would choose?
11. Why do you think He would choose that goal?
Exploring Your Options
Read over your answers to the above questions and narrow your possible projects/goals down to one or two options. For each project, answer the following questions:
1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how hard do you think it would be to tackle this project?
2. How would your life change if you were to reach this goal?
3. How would accomplishing this goal affect your relationship with God? Explain.
4. How would accomplishing this goal affect your relationship with others?
5. How would accomplishing this goal affect your testimony and/or ministry?
6. Have you decided on a goal yet? If so, what is it? State it as clearly as possible.
The Plan
In a way this is a Bible study/series on the renewing of the mind. I’ll provide daily suggestions of ways you can renew your mind through Bible study and some of the other tools we’ve discussed on this blog.
I was planning to do that on my Facebook page, but have just realized not everyone has Facebook. I’ll try to think of a solution by next Monday, but if nothing else, I can e-mail suggestions to those of you who don’t have Facebook.
Looking forward to working together – and in the tradition of all good goal setting projects, we’ll begin on Monday!
Image courtesy of FrameAngel / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Loren Pinilis says
January 1, 2013 at 8:55 amI love this approach. A lot of times we want to work on something that keeps us busy but doesn’t really challenge us. We want to surround ourself with busy work in an effort to procrastinate on what we really should be doing. I love how you try to break through that here and have us focus on the goal that’s most important. Often we know what that is deep down – we just need to gather up the courage to tackle it.
Barb says
January 1, 2013 at 12:09 pmHa – my husband would agree with you. In the first 20 years of our marriage I would start a huge project right before we went on a trip – to avoid packing for the trip. Then I would frantically race around the night before trying to get ready and start the trip tired. It’s only the last couple of years I’ve developed the habit of finishing the packing early enough that I can relax a little bit before we go!
Elizabeth Archer says
January 2, 2013 at 11:19 amI thought only I did that!! At tax time I set up projects everywhere to do to avoid doing taxes!! LOL!!
Barb says
January 2, 2013 at 8:29 pmHaha – well at least it’s a good motivator for other projects!
oneanotherliving says
January 1, 2013 at 10:29 amAlready know what my goal is that I need serious accountability on:) Looking forward to this journey with you, Barb, and with all your tribe!
Barb says
January 1, 2013 at 11:59 amIt will be nice to have you along, Elaine!
Deb Wolf says
January 1, 2013 at 11:55 amGreat questions, Barb. My goal this year is to live with intentional gratitude, and allow that to influence every part of my life. Count me in to take this journey along with you. I am so excited about the things the Lord is going to do this year.
Barb says
January 1, 2013 at 12:06 pmI feel the same way, Deb. And I love your goal for the year. I think gratitude really can influence every area of our lives. For me, it was the main answer for breaking the stronghold of worry. Others have told me it was their best strategy against insecurity and anger. Plus God has often convicted me of my ungratefulness when I’ve been feeling discontent, and gratitude helps break me out of that. I would love to be a person who is continually thanking God for His goodness as I walk through life. What a great goal!
Karen Foster says
January 1, 2013 at 4:00 pmI’m starting out the new year with your study! I This could be painful like pulling teeth, but great if it produces change in me. :) I was looking at your list of emotions and thought…..hmmm I didn’t realize so many applied to me. LOL Then I looked at your question: “What produces stress in your life?” I realized….
It is people because being around people produces those emotions: insecurity, people pleasing, envy, worry, fear etc!
Barb says
January 1, 2013 at 5:01 pmHa, I agree. Transformation is often like pulling teeth! Painful, costly, inconvenient – but it feels so good once it’s over! Your observation in doing the worksheet is interesting – I would guess a lot of people would answer it similarly, maybe most. For me stress is a good trigger to know when it’s time to renew my mind because my stress is often fueled by other emotions which usually stem from some unbiblical way I’m looking at life – if that makes any sense at all. :)
Karen Foster says
January 2, 2013 at 12:50 amPerhaps it’s like the saying: “which comes first the chicken or the egg.” I’m stressed when I worry about pleasing people. So if I didn’t worry about pleasing people, I wouldn’t feel stressed. Attack the emotion, and you’ll relieve the stress. And the Bible speaks about people pleasing vs pleasing God.
Barb says
January 2, 2013 at 8:16 pmYes, that sounds right. And I’m less stressful when I try to please God because I know He loves me no matter what.
Elizabeth Archer says
January 2, 2013 at 11:29 amWow! Gratitude- yes! Lack of gratitude is what is feeding my negative emotions. I have been ungreatful. God has been so GOOD to me, He sends so much my way, and yet I hold on to self pity because of being uncomfortable from the rough patches.
I am going to work on this, I’d love to hear how working on gratitude improved other areas of your life Barb! I love the way you put things into perspective. It always hits home!
And I was pretty embarrassed by how many negative emotions and attitudes I had from #5!!
Good stuff! (((HUGS)))
Barb says
January 2, 2013 at 8:24 pmIt may seem strange, but I often do different things with different emotions. Praying with thanksgiving is what broke me free from the stronghold of worry, but I haven’t used it consistently for my other emotions. I think it would work for a lot of things, though. At first I had a lot more questions on the worksheet, but I was getting so discouraged looking at all of my faults and sins that I thought I better cut some of them out! So I understand your feeling with #5!
tcavey says
January 2, 2013 at 2:09 pmThank you for these questions, they helped me realize more about the word God gave me for this year: Dependence. That’s what God wants from me. It will set me free from worry, stress and the idol of thinking I can control anything. I don’t think I’ll ever completely overcome this, I’m human, but I know I need to learn to rest in the promises of God. That will increase all the fruit of the Spirit in my life and bring Him the glory He deserves.
Please email me the questions as I don’t use FB. Thanks!
Barb says
January 2, 2013 at 8:27 pmDependence seems like a great word, TC. I’ll look forward to seeing what God does in that area of your life. I think I might just post the daily challenges at the blog as several people have mentioned they don’t have e-mails.
Kathi says
December 30, 2013 at 11:36 amI love the sort of twist to our usual thinking processes especially when tackling something that needs to be changed. What causes stress? I’d usually focus on dealing with the what on a superficial basis. But delving deeper the thing that causes the stress is usually not the real issue—-this helps me focus more deeply to the root of the problem.Without digging up the whole root the problem doesn’t go away—it comes back like when you cut a weed at ground level—–and some weeds come back ten fold! Thanks for the new perspective, Barb! Kathi~
Barb Raveling says
December 30, 2013 at 1:58 pmThat’s such a great analogy, Kathi. Now if only it were easier to get those roots out! I sometimes find myself renewing my mind about a habit and then realize, wait a minute, I better go deeper than the habit. When I find out what is making me want to do my bad habit (or not do my good habit), I’m usually closer to the root of the problem.