New Year’s Resolutions as a Spiritual Practice

by KC Curry

Have you ever struggled to pick a New Year’s resolution? Or perhaps you don’t have a hard time picking one but rather you have a hard time keeping up with one (calling myself out here with this one).

New Year resolutions can be tricky; we aim to do good things such as going to the gym more, eating out less, or being more diligent in our finances, but we often times can find ourselves dropping the resolution by the end of the second month of the year. This isn’t because we weren’t committed to the intention behind the good thing we resolved to do; everyone wants to accomplish something they set out to do.

What if it’s not about us?

Maybe we have a harder time keeping up with these types of New Year Resolutions because they are only centered around us and how we as individuals can grow. I know I can have a harder time keeping up with something if I’m the only person that’s being affected by the results.

So, what if this year we are intentional in framing our New Year’s resolutions around the needs of the world around us? When our resolutions involve committing to the needs of the communities around us, the meaning behind the resolution means that much more to our hearts. When we involve the world around us in our resolutions, our hearts will be that much more committed to keeping up with the work throughout the year.

Making the world a better place

As a lay member to our conference’s Board of Church and Society, a board globally dedicated to living out our faith, seeking justice, and pursuing the power of peace, I have been working with some dedicated Oklahoma United Methodists to better the world around us. Through God’s guidance, we have been diligent in watching for the ways that we can better the world around us.

Members of our board gave a report at the close of our Annual Conference this past year in an effort to affirm the sacred worth of LGBTQ+ persons and, if we had the time, to take a stand against Christian Nationalism -- two of the biggest topics within churches today. It’s important that our historic church stay relevant by engaging topics such as these so we can stay committed to being disciples of Christ in the modern day.

The UM Social Principles

One way we can do that is through our denomination’s Social Principles. Our denomination’s Board of Church and Society says, “The Social Principles articulate our ethical aspirations for the common good in our public policies and personal commitments. Through them, we seek to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength and to desire for our neighbors what we desire for ourselves.”

So, I wondered, how can I help to re-envision the work of a New Year’s resolution with that of our denomination’s newly revised Social Principles?

Some ideas

I framed some ideas around the four types of community that are found in the Social Principles, as adopted by this year’s General Conference. Here are some resolutions that we can use to help deepen our spiritual practices and can help us to be more intentional in caring for the communities we find ourselves in.

Community of All Creation

“The great lesson that our blessed Lord inculcates here…is that God is in all things, and that we are to see the Creator in the glass of every creature; that we should use and look upon nothing as separate from God.”

--John Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.”

• Pick up any litter that you see.

• Use reusable bags when grocery shopping.

• Buy recycled goods (shampoo, conditioner, things that are restored for use from recycled materials).

Economic Community

“When the Possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being, and placed you in this world, [God] placed you here not as a proprietor, but as a steward: As such [God] entrusted you, for a season, with goods of various kinds; but the sole property of these still rests in [God], nor can be alienated from [God]. As you yourself are not your own, but [God’s], such is, likewise, all that you enjoy.”

--John Wesley, “The Use of Money.”

• Pick a nonprofit or extension ministry that you love and donate to it throughout the year. Some of my favorites include The Homeless Alliance in Oklahoma City, The Ceili Community, and Criminal Justice and Mercy Ministries.

• Reduce extra expenses throughout the week and use that money as part of your church tithe.

• Be intentional in buying from locally owned shops.

Social Community

“The gospel of Christ knows no religion but social; no holiness but social holiness.”

--John Wesley, “Hymns and Sacred Poems.”

• Find ways to educate yourself on current events and have an open mind to what you read. An example includes Christian Nationalism and LGBTQ+ inclusion. Two books over these topics include “The False White Gospel” by Jim Wallis and “God and the Gay Christian” by Matthew Vine.

• Read over the newly revised Social Principles. These can be found at www.umcjustice.org.

• Witness to the power of God’s redemptive work in our world.

• Bake goods for/support your local NA/AA community.

Political Community

“Love is the fulfilling of the law, and the end of the commandment. Very excellent things are spoken of love; it is the essence, the spirit, the life of all virtue. It is not only the first and great command, but it is all the commandments in one. Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are amiable, or honorable; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, they are all comprised in this one word—love.”

--John Wesley “The Circumcision of the Heart”

• Be intentional in praying for our leaders within our government entities and those who advocate for change within the contexts that they are in.

• We all need prayer, especially at such a time as now with our world being so divided. Let us pray for efforts of peacemaking to be made through such agents of change.

• Stay engaged with the news, locally, nationally, and globally.

• Being a historical church in the modern day means staying connected to what is happening in the world around us.

• Don’t overconsume in this area, it’s OK to take a break and disengage when the news gets too heavy. Just be sure to reengage when you feel the time is right.

• NewsNation is a great, neutral news outlet!

• Be a sheep!

• Live into the calling that comes from Matthew 25

• Volunteer at food pantries or give to your local blessing boxes

• Smile and acknowledge the stranger around you

• This can be a simple smile and wave to those on the street or a new visitor at your church!

• Send a text to those who are sick and let them know you are praying for them

• Donate to organizations who help those who are or were incarcerated. The Exodus House and Redemption Missions are two great ministries through Criminal Justice and Mercy Ministries.

These are just some ideas for us to keep in mind as we think of how we want to grow in the new year. These are spiritual practices meant for us to be in prayer about. This year, for our New Year’s resolutions, let us ask for God’s guidance in how God wants us to dive deeper in our own spiritual practices. There can be a sense of defeat that can come when we drop a resolution we aspired to fulfill, going to the gym, eating healthier, etc. I know for me, at least, I can feel that way. But, with God’s guidance and our hearts open to hearing how God wants us to engage with the world, there can be no sense of defeat.

So, won’t you join me in framing your New Year’s Resolutions on the needs around us? With our hearts focused on the needs of others as our New Year’s Resolution, we will be adding onto the work of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

Let’s do this, church. Together. See you in the new year!

OKUMC Board of Church and Society Board Members: Jen Logsdon-Kellogg, Jalyn Betts, Vernona Dismuke, Adam Young, Jonathon Clinesmith, Twila Gibbens, Mark Davies, KC Curry, Jack Terrell-Wilkes, Ann Needham, Sharri Hiller, Rebekah Hasty, and Jaqueline Dismuke.