This article was originally written for the Bridge Restoration Ministry in Napa, California.
New Year’s resolutions are the worst.
Our culture loves to celebrate New Year’s Day by making resolutions to live differently. The world around us tells us that all we need to change is the determination to make it happen. You know, “Just do it.” But so often this way of thinking ends in failure.
In a study published by Columbia University, only 25% of people reported that htye were still committed to their New Year’s resolutions.1 Strava, the fitness tracking app, has popularized January 19 as “Quitter’s Day” since it as the date by which many resolutions are abandoned.2
These statistics are rather discouraging. However, they also highlight an important question for us: Why do our good intentions fall apart? In other words, why do we have such a hard time following through? The answer is simple: our good intentions fall apart because of sin.
Even in our best laid plans, sin always rears its ugly head. This remains true even after we’ve put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from our sin. As Christians, our good intentions are still prone to fall apart.
You might ask, “Why is this the case? How is sin able to do this?” And that is a very good question. However, the answer is a little technical and will require a few turns in your Bible, but bear with me. Sin muddles up our good intentions because of total depravity.
One brother defined total depravity as “the corruption and pollution of sin passed down from Adam.”3 That’s to say that when Adam sinned in the garden, he sinned for all of us. From our earliest days we are sinners like our ancestor Adam (Ps 51:5). Because Adam sinned, we sin. What’s more, we don’t just inherit the corruption and pollution of sin in our physical bodies, it impacts our souls too. Total depravity is total because it tarnishes all of us—both body and soul.4
When we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from our sin, the triune God freely forgives us—he washes away all our sin and promises to remember it no more (Heb. 8:12). He also blesses us with the Holy Spirit to empower our new life in Christ (Phil. 2:13). God is the source of our salvation, the power of our salvation, and his glory is the goal of our salvation (Rom 11:36).
How is it possible then, considering how great God’s redemption is, that our good intentions still tend to fall apart? The truth is that we still await the full measure of our redemption (Rom. 8:23). We look ahead to the time when we will be free from all our sinful desires (2 Cor. 5:1-10). For now, we wrestle with sin as we follow Christ (Gal. 5:16-17). So, here’s the explanation: our good intentions tend to fall apart because they become corrupted by the sinful desires that still remain in us.
How can we make good on our intentions and follow through? The answer is to build upon the rock—Jesus Christ (Mt. 7:24-25). Jesus desires that we would build our entire lives, including all our intentions, upon him. Truly, Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5). If we desire for our good intentions to bear fruit, we must root them in Christ.
Rooting ourselves and our intentions in Christ looks like seeking him on a daily basis. God has given us the Bible, prayer, the church, along with baptism and communion to strengthen us in our faith. In our dry and dusty world, these are the only faucets of water that nourish our thirsty souls. In these places, the Father ministers mercy and grace to our hearts in Christ by the Spirit.
So, why do good intentions fall apart? Because of sin. How can our good intentions bear fruit? Only when they are rooted in Christ Jesus. May we build a firm foundation upon our Lord Jesus Christ.
[1]https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-years-resolutions-tips-why-they-fail/
[2]https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/a-study-of-800-million-activities-predicts-most-new-years-resolutions-will-be-abandoned-on-january-19-how-you-cancreate-new-habits-that-actually-stick.html
[3]John MacArthur, ed., Essential Christian Doctrine: A Handbook on Biblical Truth (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 257.
[4]MacArthur, 257.
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