“According to one survey, more than 90% of us cannot make New Year's resolutions come true. Millions of us give up on them. We actually know right now that they will not last for more than a week.
We don't even expect them to happen. Well, that's because of a problem that has to do with the nature of the human condition and the will and what a resolution can and cannot do for us. And there is something that is actually much more powerful in life than setting resolutions.
And that's what we're invited to live into. So I want to talk about that in these few moments today. Whenever you're watching this and you're thinking about a new season of life ahead of you.
But before I can get to what it is that's more powerful than a resolution, we need to talk about the nature of resolutions a bit. And I want to do that by summarizing a conversation that went on years ago with Frank Pastore and a very smart man by the name of Dallas Willard. Frank said, everyone can relate to having a New Year's resolution.
They were talking right around the time of[…]”
“And God and I are here and I'm asking for His help as we are talking with you. And so if God is here now, I don't ever have to be alone this year. I can always do whatever I'm doing together with God.
And what this means then is that it will be terribly important where I place my mind. Again, the vision of life is God is always present. And then what that leads to is I can place my mind in the presence of God.”
From Become New with John Ortberg: Why Resolutions Fail and What Actually Works, Jan 1, 2026
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/become-new-with-john-ortberg/id1554045522?i=1000743399821&r=442
This material may be protected by copyright.
“And if God is able, that means I'm never hopeless, and I never have to be stuck. I'm never just on my own. And my reminder of this one, ironically, is a little mirror.
Because I look at that and I think about what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, 1 Corinthians 4, outwardly we are wasting away. And this little mirror reminds me of that. Sometimes Nancy is listening to Become New, and sometimes watching it on her phone.”
From Become New with John Ortberg: Why Resolutions Fail and What Actually Works, Jan 1, 2026
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/become-new-with-john-ortberg/id1554045522?i=1000743399821&r=554
This material may be protected by copyright.
From Become New with John Ortberg: Why Resolutions Fail and What Actually Works, Jan 1, 2026
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/become-new-with-john-ortberg/id1554045522?i=1000743399821&r=46
This material may be protected by copyright.
