I don’t know if you noticed but a new year just started. In good old American tradition, it is time to make commitments to change ourselves in some way that we will likely not stick to. So, in light of the fact that most of us don’t stick to our New Year’s resolutions, I’m going to recommend that we learn to be grateful and accept what we have. This doesn’t mean that we don’t change. Just rather than changing a specific quality, we focus on changing how we view things and people in our lives.

Let’s start by looking at two things that we have been looking at in church. The first is the Lord’s Prayer.  Specifically, I want to talk about His will being done in our lives and forgiving those who have trespassed against us.  The second thing that I want to talk about is fully and completely believing that God is good all the time. Whether I see something as negative or positive, God has already worked out a plan for it in my life.

Since it is unlikely that a big New Year’s resolution will change your life, let me suggest one simple thing to do. Pray the Lord’s Prayer every day.  It is found in Matthew 6:9-13.  I explained this in detail in my last blog: #248 – God Only Rewards Action.  (With my last blog, I posted the Lord’s Prayer with my commentary.  There are 2 printable versions: with flowers or bread graphics.)

“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10

For the New Year, I want to focus on two things. First, I want to accept that God’s will is being done in my life: Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This means that I have to completely surrender to His will in my life being the best thing for me. God is good, loving, and just. Everything He does will fall in line with this even if I can’t see it.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Matthew 6:12

The second part I want you to focus on is forgiveness.  Fist we must acknowledge and ask for forgiveness for the things we have done. Then as Christ commands us, we must forgive others like we have been forgiven. For many of us, we are unable to change, because we hold on to wrongs that have been done to us in the past, and we feel justified in being resentful, angry, or depressed about these past wrongs.  We also try to keep ourselves from ever being harmed again. We become controlling, manipulative, defensive, or excessively emotional. This keeps us from being who God created us to be.

God is Good ALL the Time
These things go hand in hand with seeing God as being good all the time. We have to see that God knew about whatever has happened to us in the past, and He knew exactly how to use it to make us who He needed us to be. God has planned out everything from our births to our deaths.  I must accept His Kingdom come and His will be done in my life.

Because He does everything in His perfect plan, and because I know that He works out all things for my good, I can forgive others.  In Genesis 50:20, Joseph says of those who have wronged him, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” The best way to even up with those who have wronged us is to show them that no matter what they have done, God was and is always in control and “that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

I have an exercise for you. (You can either draw the chart yourself, or print my chart.)  Write down something you are struggling with either from something happening now or something in the past. Make two columns. In the first one, write down how this situation has moved you closer to God or has changed you in a way that has made you more like Christ. In the second column, write down any hard feelings you have about the situation: resentment, anger, or a lack of trust leading you to try and control the situation in some way.

The first column will show you how God is moving in your life and how He cares for you. From glory to glory we are transformed (2 Corinthians 3:18). He moves us to bring more of what He wants which brings us peace.

The second column shows the effects of unforgiveness and resentment in your life. As long as we hold back and do not see God as being good in all things, we will continue being miserable and carry the burden of preventing bad from happening.

So, look in that first column. This is who God is making you to be. Be proud of the Holy Spirit working in you to make you who He wants you to be. Hold on to this verse: Psalm 139:14, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.”

Only when we stop seeing circumstances as bad, can we start learning to love ourselves. What does it mean to love ourselves? To love ourselves is to accept what God is doing in our lives and to be happy with the creation He is working in our life. He is using the difficult circumstances to make us what He wants us to be. We can only realize this when we let go of bitterness and resentment. I do not have to excuse the abuse, but I have to thank God for using it to work good in my life. By doing this, I am conquering that which was meant to destroy me. So when you start to feel negative, bitter, controlling, or full of irrational emotion, please hold on to these two verses.

“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
Genesis 50:20

 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.”
Psalm 139:14

– Written by Jeremiah

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