After enjoying a delicious lunch on January 1, a dear friend and I discussed the past year and encouraged ourselves in what we could do better in 2023. He shared how one resolution has remained unaccomplished over the last three years. He would set the same goal year after year, but the outcome has remained the same: a dusty book that sits on a shelf unread. This brother is a go-getter par excellence, one of the most conscientious and disciplined people I have ever met. So, I was most intrigued to discover why his resolution remains unaccomplished.
As we conducted a root cause analysis, he made a simple point which I found profound. His line of work involves a lot of reading, and according to him, whenever he has to read for work, there is no shortage of motivation because he would have to give an account by way of assessment. Immediately it became clear to me that the book continues to sit on the shelf after three years because the accomplishment of the resolution has not been connected to any greater purpose. There is nothing at stake, whether the book gets read or not.
Finding a Larger-than-Life Purpose
I firmly believe that if his job depended on that book, my friend would have read it. He is not alone in this conundrum. Year after year, the same question is asked, why are so many of us unable to stick to our resolutions beyond the first quarter of the year? The reason is straightforward; I believe it’s because we do not connect our goals to a higher enough purpose. When a goal or resolution is not linked to a higher purpose, the chances of breaking it becomes higher. A higher purpose will act as an inbuilt motivational mechanism that will drive our resolve. But the question then arises as to what qualifies as a higher purpose.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul gives us an objective, larger-than-life purpose to which we must connect our resolutions and ambitions. In chapter 10:31, he writes, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.“
According to Paul, the glory of God is the only larger-than-life purpose to which we must link all our ambitions and goals. It is the only purpose that has enough inbuilt power to sustain and drive our resolutions and produce unspeakable joy when those resolutions are achieved.
Why is the glory of God the only purpose that can truly drive our resolutions? The answer is simple. It is because we are made for God’s glory. We only realise our true purpose when we find it in God’s glory. This means we come alive when we connect our ambitions to God’s glory. And whenever we live for any purpose other than God’s glory, it’s like having an autoimmune disease. We’re fighting against our true nature, and we all know the ultimate result of an autoimmune disease if it is not checked.
Lesser Purpose might bring Short-Term Accomplishment but no Joy.
It is true that there are people who achieve their resolutions by connecting them to lesser purposes—for instance, a desire for money or fame, etc. But sooner or later, they discover that money cannot buy everything, and if the world of celebrities is anything to go by, the more fame you have, the more hiding you have to do. Isn’t that ironic? Contrary to what the world tells us, fame doesn’t bring the satisfaction it promises. These people may achieve short-term objectives, but in the long run, lesser purposes lack the strength to sustain the true and lasting ambitions of people created in the image of a glorious God.
Perhaps that explains why our world has no lasting joy or satisfaction. There are so many people who accomplish their temporal resolutions but will still not know the joy and satisfaction that goes with those accomplishments. It’s simply because these resolutions were not connected to the larger purpose of God’s glory. Only the glory of God can both sustain our drive and, at the same time, guarantee joy and satisfaction when those resolutions are accomplished.
In his high priestly prayer in John 17, in verse 4, Jesus prayed, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” We see in this verse that Jesus connected his work on earth to God’s glory. True success is only when our ambitions and goals redound to the praise and glory of God, according to Jesus.
Therefore, as you think through all the ambitions and goals you want to accomplish this year, ask yourself, to what end do I want to achieve these ambitions? Are they in any way connected to God’s glory? Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians was, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God. That means everything we do, including all our resolutions and even the mundane things like eating and drinking, must be connected to the glory of God if we are to have true joy.
This is very instructive and relevant for every Christian at this time of the year.
You’re right Andrew. Especially at this time of the year, we all need to take stock and make sure that our goals and ambitions have one end in view, the glory of God.