Not New Years Resolutions Again?

Let’s face it, if we’re honest with ourselves, many of us are still feeling the frustration of our 2024 and 2025 New Year’s resolutions. We tend to pile on new to-dos before completing what we said we would do the year before.

I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions, not because I lack the intentionality to sit down and think through what I should be doing better, but because I believe life is a process, while resolutions often feel more like destinations.

These are some of the things I hear from people about their resolutions: “I have read more books. I have gone on longer vacations. I have lost weight. I have exercised more. I have… I have… I have.” Do you see the trend? Everything is about me — my accomplishments, my disciplines, my desires. Me, me, me.

At some point, we also have to deal with the consequences of failed or incomplete resolutions. This is especially true for those who are determined to get it all done — the “I said I would do it, and I will” people. They race through the year completing tasks they promised themselves, at times without considering the cost to existing commitments, their families, their sanity, or especially their relationship with God.

The world’s philosophy is carnal, selfish, and unbiblical: Do this. Focus on your well-being, your sanity, your physique. All of the “external and soulish” things. Now, I’m not against any of those, but nowhere in Scripture do I read that these pursuits, though they may have some value, are the source of true joy and fulfillment in life.

This may sound simplistic, but I am realizing more and more that my relationship with God, reading His Word, communicating with Him through the day, hearing His voice, and obeying His commands, is the most vital thing I will do in 2026, just as it was in 2025, and will be in 2027, if I am still alive.

I often remember a dear pastor who stayed with us when we pastored in Canada. He was in his 80s, and after eating breakfast with us, he would rise from the table and announce that he had an “appointment with King.” He was going back to his room to read the Bible and pray. I have long regarded him as a man of great stature, strong in faith, rich in the Word, and a powerful example. And yet, if I’m honest, I have not faithfully followed in his footsteps. I honor that man, who lived a full life of being content, as long as he was with Jesus. He used to tell us, and often showed us, that the Bible contained the answers to every issue of life. Nowadays, we tend to rely more on the experts, authors who label things we go through, rather than going to the source of life, healer, and deliverer, Jesus.

So, 2026 — here I come.

I have no specific resolutions, and yet I do want to read more books, take vacations, lose weight, love my wife and family better, and be a better husband, father, nonno, leader, and friend. But above all else, I intend to pursue my relationship with the One who gives me life each morning. The One who calms my storms, speaks peace when I need it, and brings joy when the circumstances of life are a bit of a drag.

I want to rely more on God’s Word, because it is better than anything else. It protects me, guides me, and leads me. Psalm 119:105 is a great reminder of that truth, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Happy 2026!

Davide Colletta

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Davide is the Lead Pastor
at Mission Community Church