1Timothy 4:8: “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”
The practice of making New Year’s resolutions goes back over 3000 years to the ancient Babylonians. There is just something about the start of a New Year that gives us the feeling of a fresh start and a new beginning. In reality, there is no difference between December 31st and January 1st. Nothing mystical occurs at midnight on December 31st. The Bible does not speak for or against the concept of New Year’s resolutions. However, if a Christian determines to make a New Year’s resolution, what kind of resolution should he or she make? For the Scriptural answer, we examine:
- Historical Context: The Book of 1 Timothy was written by the apostle Paul (1 Timothy 1:1) in A.D. 62-66. Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him in his responsibility for overseeing the work of the Ephesian church and possibly the other churches in the province of Asia (1 Timothy 1:3). This letter lays the foundation for ordaining elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7) and provides guidance for ordaining people into offices of the church (1 Timothy 3:8-13). In essence, 1 Timothy is a leadership manual for church organization and administration. This is the first letter Paul wrote to Timothy, a young pastor who had been a help to Paul in his work. Timothy was a Greek; his mother was a Jewess and his father Greek. Paul was more than just a mentor and leader to Timothy, he was like a father to him, and Timothy was like a son to Paul (1 Timothy 1:2). Paul begins the letter by urging Timothy to be on guard for false teachers and false doctrine. Paul instructs Timothy in worship (chapter 2) and developing mature leaders for the church (chapter 3). Most of the letter deals with pastoral conduct, warnings about false teachers, and the church’s responsibility toward single members, widows, elders, and slaves. All throughout the letter, Paul encourages Timothy to stand firm, to persevere, and to remain true to his calling.
- Grammatical Usage: “Bodily” or in the Greek, “Somatikos” means, “corporeal or flesh”; “exercise” or “Gumnasia” means, “to train”; “profiteth” or “ophelimos” meaning, “useful; to gain”’; “godliness” or “Eusebeia” means, “reverence, respect Piety”; “unto” or “Pros” means, “to the advantage of”; “things” or “Pas” means, “generally and specifically”; “promise” or “Epaggelia” meaning, “every assurance of God in this life and the life to come”; “live” or “Zoe” meaning, “existence with vitality and absolute fullness”; “is” or “Nun” means, “at this time, the present”; “come” is “Mello” meaning, “to intend.”
- Literal Application: For while physical training is useful in the sense of some value, reverence and respect for God is of value and gain in every way, as it holds fulfillment of God’s assurances in this present life and also for the life intended for us all eternally with vitality and absolute fullness.
- Contextual Interpretation: The King James Version does not adequately communicate Paul’s thought. He is not despising bodily exercise. Rather, he is making a comparison between bodily exercise and spiritual exercise. It’s fine to discipline your physical body; it will help you for a few years. But it’s far better to discipline yourself spiritually, because it will put you in good stead not only in this life, but also in the life to come. Paul’s admonition is that we ought to work much harder at godliness than we do at our games! In this verse Paul is dealing with relative values, comparing one action to another – careful not to equate one to the other. He does not deny that a Christian should take care of his health as the phrase “profiteth little” does not mean there is no gain at all. Physical health is important if, for no other reason, it provides for a better vessel to fulfill God’s plan for one’s life; but (to a greater degree) godliness has more utility in that it helps us in this life as well as the life to come. In our present existence, God provides for us the answers to life’s four basic questions of origin, meaning, morality and destiny which has a direct and immediate affect on us emotionally, psychologically, spiritually and physically. The long-term affect has to do with securing our eternal destiny and spiritual estate.
People who are beauty-obsessed and “health nuts” are not found in just the 21st century – they have been since the dawn of man and Paul is well aware of them in his day. They eat all the proper foods. They take vitamins and minerals. They work out to keep in shape. But the fact is, as Paul alludes, they’re going to die. All their efforts may extend their lives a few years, if they don’t contract cancer or die in some mishap. Paul’s charge is they’re foolish if they’re living as if this life is all there is and as if they can extend this life indefinitely. Paul’s implication is that one of the reasons we’re so spiritually flabby is that we’re caught up with the temporal. We tend to think that we and others will physically live forever. But we won’t. The Puritan preacher, Richard Baxter, used to say, “I preach as though I might never preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.” The Bible is clear that as members of the fallen human race, we’re all in a cart on the way to the gallows. Instead of fixated on this life and its provision, we’d better be preparing for what lies beyond which, defined, is forevermore. Because eternity is a fact, we should discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness.
Toward this present life on earth, there have been two extreme attitudes: Some have wrongly regarded this life as the only thing worth-while, scoffing at the idea of anything higher and beyond. Thus, according to the consistent Marxists, there is no substance to the promise of “Pie in the sky, By and by.” Others, also wrongly, have scorned the present life as of small or no account, even arguing that salvation consists in getting loose from it altogether. On this philosophic road, at various stages, are the Hindu religionists, the monastic’s of the middle ages; even Plato, and a few theologians who should have known better. Over against these extremes the Bible, with its unerring philosophic balance, recognizes certain genuine values in both the present life and that which is to come. Paul correctly asserts that life on the present earthly stage is of course not the best; but it is “good” (Genesis 1:31). Yet, to enhance this life as well as assure the next, spiritual pursuits are wholeheartedly commended as better.
- Scriptural Comparison: The Bible does not speak for or against the concept of New Year’s resolutions. Every day is the day the Lord has made, as Psalm 118:24 states, and “we will rejoice and be glad in it.” One can make a resolution or promise to oneself any day of the year, and keeping it or breaking it is in their hands. One thing the Bible does say in Ecclesiastes 5:2, 4 and 5 is that if one makes promises or vows to God, it shouldn’t be taken lightly:
“Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed— Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.” - Common New Year’s resolutions are to quit something or start to do something, implication being that while these may prove worthy goals, the vast majority of New Year’s resolutions, even among Christians, are in relation to physical things. However, as our primary text instructs us, this should not be.
- Many Christians make New Year’s resolutions to pray more, to read the Bible every day, and to attend church more regularly. These are fantastic goals. However, these New Year’s resolutions fail just as often as the non-spiritual resolutions, because there is no power in a New Year’s resolution. Resolving to start or stop doing a certain activity has no value unless you have the proper motivation for stopping or starting that activity. For example, why do you want to read the Bible every day? Is it to honor God and grow spiritually, or is it because you have just heard that it is a good thing to do? Why do you want to lose weight? Is it to honor God with your body, or is it for vanity, to honor yourself? The reality is that, for many people, New Year’s resolutions, or any resolutions for that matter, don’t last but a few days or weeks, if even that long. Eventually, old habits and behavior patterns return, and the resolutions are abandoned or forgotten. Yet the sad thing is that once the calendar switches years again, the same resolutions may well be made again only to suffer the same fate of a breakdown of willpower and perseverance. So how does lasting change occur and how can we be sure that our resolutions lead to actual, true growth?
- If we choose to make resolutions, we need to be sure that they are Biblical in nature. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a better spouse or parent, learning a proper work-home balance, or trying to get into better shape. But these resolutions are meaningless if they are not grounded in a conviction by the Holy Spirit as to specific ways in which we need to change. General terms of “betterment,” “growth,” and “improvement” need to be measured by specific Scriptural admonitions and standards. If our hearts are not burdened over a failure to honor God by submitting to His Word, we may modify our behavior for a time, but we will fail at changing our hearts and having our minds conformed to God’s Word.
- The process of true growth according to the Bible is called sanctification. It is God working in our hearts by His grace through our faith to convict us of sin, to move us to forsake that sin, and to love and desire His ways. We need to go to God’s Word and listen to the Spirit of God at work in our hearts to know where we need to change. David prayed in Psalm 139:23-24:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”
He wasn’t simply resolving to try harder to be a better person. He was interested in learning where specifically he fell short of God’s holy standards. He wanted to know where he had sin that he needed to be aware of so he could forsake it and thereby grow and change. His resolution was to walk in practical holiness as the Spirit of God led him in the everlasting way of God, as opposed to the ways of the world.
For Christians, making resolutions ought not to be that complex. All we need to do is to be in God’s Word so that we can look at it like a mirror and then make the needed changes as God reveals our defects. James 1:22-25 says,
“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”
The point is that God’s Word is the mirror to our soul, and as we look into it with humble hearts, God will reveal places of error and fault. Just as a person looks at himself in the mirror and doesn’t present himself publicly until all the blemishes are covered and everything is just as it should be, so too are we to present ourselves spiritually. Romans 12:1 says that we need to present our bodies as living and holy sacrifices unto God. We cannot do this unless we look into the mirror of the Word so that we know where we need to change. Identifying where we need to change is no more complicated than being in God’s Word and humbly yielding to the conviction of the Spirit.
So, specifically, what sort of New Year’s resolution should a Christian make? Here are some suggestions:
(1) Pray to the Lord for wisdom in regards to what resolutions, if any, He would have you make (James 1:5);
(2) Pray for wisdom as to how to fulfill the goals God gives you (Colossians 1:9);
(3) Rely on God’s strength to help you (Isaiah 50:10);
(4) Find an accountability partner who will help you and encourage you (Psalm 27:9);
(5) Don’t become discouraged with occasional failures; instead allow them to motivate you further (Isaiah 43:1);
(6) Don’t become proud or vain, but give God the glory. Psalm 37:5-6, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
(7) LIKE PAUL in Phil. 3:13…. Resolve to forget those things which are behind and press forward.
(8) LIKE DAVID in Psalm 121:1…. lift up our eyes to the hills from which cometh our help. The greatest sin that we often commit against our selves, our families, and our God is to look in the wrong direction.
(9) LIKE ENOCH in Genesis 5:24…. Walk in daily fellowship with our heavenly father
That walk takes several things:
Daily reading of the Word
Daily time in prayer
Daily obedience
Daily confession
Daily service
Daily dying to self
Christianity is not a religion, not a system, not a belief, not intellectual… it is an active, growing, living, daily relationship with a person…. with God Himself. And, it is not a sprint…. it’s a marathon. So, in the New Year, work to make it “more” daily.
(10) LIKE MOSES in Hebrews 11:25…. Choose to suffer rather than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a short while.
(11). LIKE GIDEON in Judges 6&7… Advance, even when my friends are few. Usually, when we are faced with a decision on doing something or going somewhere, we make the decision based on the crowd. The truth is… In matters of righteousness and morality….THE CROWD IS USUALLY WRONG!!!!!
(12) LIKE ANDREW in John
1:42 strive to bring our brother to Christ
I’m not going to split hairs with you over Cain’s question, “Who is my
brother?” Your brother may be your literal brother… or sister, or child,
or parent. Your brother may be your next
door neighbor your co-worker your room-mate your best friend. Andrew WENT to his brother and BROUGHT him to
Jesus. You may need to invite them to
church, or a bible study, or singing service.
But remember there are three aspects to “go”:
GO = intentionally speaking to him about Jesus, faith, spiritual things
GO = intentionally turning the conversation, asking the tough questions
GO = intentionally living the Christian life-style as a witness
(13) Like King David’s plea: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).
Today, as we face the tradition of “resolutions,” we must remember three important restrictions from Scripture. First, whatever we promise must be genuine, truthful, and from our hearts (James 5:12). Second, God takes these “vows” seriously (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5). And finally, God’s requirements for our lives are both simple and profound: Do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God (Micah 6:8).
- Conclusion: Paul’s statement in v. 9, “This is a sound principle and is worth being accepted everywhere,” is difficult to imagine how successful life on this planet would be if, indeed, the principle of v. 8 were universally observed. Sound minds, spiritually developed personalities in healthy bodies would contribute to a constructive society where the sociological, psychological, political, economic, moral and legal problems would be curtailed. Opportunity would be maximized and trade-offs minimized. So why is this not the case? Because this is “man’s day” (1 Cor. 4:3) when the flesh can do nothing right (Jn 9:4) because the unsaved man has his values reversed (Eph. 2:2; 2 cor. 4:4). To reject the Light of the World (Jn 8:12) is to walk in the darkness, stumble and fall (Jn 11:9, 10). Thus when lost man, with all of his pride and confidence in his ability to provide a viable society without Christ has utterly failed (Lk 21:26), Christ, the Stone whom they rejected (1 Pt. 2:4, 7) will return to set all right. Until then, live Philippians 2:15, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”
Another year is dawning, Dear Father let it be, In working or in waiting, Another year with thee;
Another year of progress, Another year of praise, Another year of proving Thy presence all the days;
Another year of mercies, Of faithfulness and grace, Another year of gladness, The glory of thy face;
Another year of leaning Upon thy loving breast, Another year of trusting, Of quiet, happy rest;
Another year of service, Of witness for thy love, Another year of training For holier work above;
Another year is dawning, Dear Father, let it be, On earth, or else in heaven, Another year for thee.
– Frances R. Havergal