The Scripture that started me thinking all of this is found in 2 Corinthians 13:11
Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.I suppose I often think that our real responsibility to God is to get out of the way so he can work through us (or sometimes in spite of us). Paul says in the passage above that we are to "Aim for perfection". At first glance this passage seems almost contradictory to what we are taught elsewhere, ie. John 15:5b - "Apart from me (Christ) you can do nothing". But as I have mulled this over in my mind the past several days I have come to realize that Paul did not say "Attain perfection" but "Aim for perfection". We need only to aim for the perfection to which we are called, for we cannot attain it of ourselves. We are responsible to plan for it, lay the groundwork for it and move in the right direction. God will have to get us there, and He will - "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9.
Here are some of the goals that scripture outlines for us. If you are making some resolutions this year, consider these among them:
- To please the Lord 2 Corinthians 5:9
- To achieve our calling by the power of the Spirit Galatians 3:3
- To win the prize God has promised (eternal life) Philippians 3:14
- Lead a life that will witness to those around you 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
I really needed the Lord to speak this to me right now. After several months of extreme spiritual highs I have been going through a valley and feeling somewhat mired in life. Sometimes that is when you need to just make up your mind which direction you are going to go and pull yourself up by the spiritual bootstraps - and all of these scriptures have inspired me to make some spiritual resolutions this year.
