Community Bible Fellowship

Pastor’s Newsletter Article

This is the latest of the articles Pastor Richert writes for the monthly church newsletter.

Resolve

2019 has begun. Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? Many people resolve to stop certain practices and/or start other practices at the beginning of a new year.

What does it mean to resolve? It means to decide firmly on a course of action. As we all know, all too often the decision to take a course of action is not very firm. Resolutions are often broken sooner rather than later in the New Year.

Why is it so hard to make changes in our lives? One major reason is a lack of conviction. Many times we think we OUGHT to make a needed change. We are motivated by some external influence, like other’s expectations of us. The problem is that we really don’t WANT to make the needed change. We are comfortable with our lives the way they are. There is no internal motivation to change. What we really need is help changing our desires.

This is where the Holy Spirit can help us. Phil. 2:13 says, “God is at work within you helping you want to obey Him, and then helping you do what He wants.” If we know we SHOULD make needed changes, we need to ask the Spirit to help us WANT to change. He will give us the conviction and the strength we need to make those changes.