New Year’s is just around the corner. Manynew-year-resolutions people bring in the New Year with a favored activity of making resolutions. Do you make them? How long do you keep them? Most people will make resolutions for the weight they’ll never lose and the money they’ll never save. We’ll make deals with ourselves that if we just get the right job we’ll pay off our debts, or buy gym memberships then we’ll really lose the weight. But why don’t our resolutions work?

Simple answer is we don’t treat the problem. We only treat the symptoms. The trouble with our debt isn’t the lack of money. It’s generally the way we spend what we do have. Our struggles with weight aren’t because we don’t have a gym membership, it’s because we can’t say no to the foods that aren’t good for us. The biggest issue is our joy and contentment are wrapped up in what we don’t have rather in what we do have.

So what kind of resolutions should we make? Perhaps we should make a resolution to change our attitude and behavior – instead of our actions. Our actions are simply an outflow of our attitude. Maybe a resolution worth making is to ask God to help find joy in the moment. Honestly, that’s my resolution that I’ve started before the New Year. I want to find God’s joy in every situation. I’ve made resolutions before that I would be more loving to my wife and be more complimentary to others, but that never seems to work. I start strong but after a few weeks, and if I’m lucky months, the newly formed goals become old and no longer are my focus. They fade to the distance and eventually disappear off of my radar. This year I’m looking at it from a different angle. I want to be joyful with everything that I have.

When I can find joy in the busyness and stress at work, then I won’t bring the stress home and heap it on my family. When I see my wife as the gift from God that she truly is, then I’ll have no problem giving compliments and showing love in simple ways that she appreciates.

New Year’s resolutions aren’t bad in and of themselves, but so often they are forgotten after a few months. But changing an attitude will have longer lasting implications. May you find joy in the everyday moments of 2015. May you realize that God has given you all you need to lose that unwanted weight, balance your bank accounts, to live within your means, to become and stay organized. May God give you the strength to address your attitudes this coming New Year. So what are your New Years resolution?