Sometimes it is the simple things that seem to matter most. Things like happiness and a sense of belonging. Whole cultures are created around a sense of purpose and belonging. Knowing who you are and having a place and purpose in your life are very important things. These are the things that truly create order out of the chaos of our lives.

At the beginning of each new year many of us take the time to reflect and come up with a few resolutions that we intend to abide by in the coming year. For me, and I imagine

many others these resolutions are often the same year after year. I think that the reason is because we do not have a clear understanding of our identity and so our resolutions lack the kind of roots that they need to bear fruit.

A good example of this is my continuing resolution to loose weight. The sad truth is I continue to gain weight year after year with sporadic diets thrown in where I begin to weigh what I should. The diets however always seem to be followed by a period where I bounce back to a point that is higher than where I started. The reason for this is pretty clear to me if I will just take the time to reflect on who I truly am and not who I wish to be. I am a person who loves to eat, won't take the time from a busy schedule to exercise and lacks the discipline to turn down a big helping (or two) of foods that I really love. I am also able to rationalize these decisions by the knowledge that I will be good tomorrow. Unfortunately tomorrow never seems to come.

With my identity firmly in mind it is clear to me that a simple resolution to loose weight is not simple at all. I requires a number of pretty fundamental lifestyle changes. I need to become a more physically active person. I also need to change my basic diet and eating habits (I am not going to get into that can of worms... although a diet of worms might help me loose weight.)

What I really need, and don't want to address is discipline. or an even more distasteful word for me, self control. and now all of a sudden my simple resolution has become a deep identity problem that affects my spiritual life, my relationship with God. It seems like a big jump but it isn't. Saint Peter in his second letter tells us that while self control is not the first mile post in our spiritual journey if certainly isn't the last and plays a vital role on the road to spiritual maturity.

Peter tells us;

God's divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-8)

Thinking of this in terms of relatives makes it easy to understand. you have to have self-control before you gain endurance and you are certainly need a great deal of endurance, (not to mention Godliness) before they finally say goodnight.

The reality I am trying to show with all of this is that simple resolutions often go with large lifestyle changes. And these lifestyle changes are reflections of a changed identity. As Christians we know that Jesus Christ truly changes lives. That means that if you do make a resolution you are really setting out on a spiritual journey, one that will require God's help to change our sinful behavior. I know we are talking about a diet, about food but lust and gluttony are two of the seven deadly sins and they are the enemy (trust me, it is possible to lust after a cheeseburger and fries, especially after two weeks on a fat free diet.)

So before you make any resolutions this year think about who you truly are. Then let God in on the plans and things will go a lot easier. A good place to contact God and to grow and nurture your faith is in our regular worship. So if you want to loose weight come to worship? I can't hurt.

Pastor Jim Bliss
February 2010