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Resolutions 2016

 

The start of the New Year is typically the time when we reflect upon our lives. We consider where we have been and where we are going, what we have accomplished and what we want to accomplish. Traditionally, the beginning of the New Year is also the time when we make resolutions. Our New Year’s resolutions are mostly fueled by the following question: What can I do to self-improve? In other terms, what can I do to create a better version of myself? This year, as you make your resolutions, I would like to remind you that the people we most admire were not devoted to self-improvement; they devoted their lives to making a difference in someone else’s life and the world.

The people I most admire are Biblical heroes. I do not admire them for their efforts to self-improve; to the contrary, they had numerous flaws. I admire them because of what they did for others. Moses for example is regarded as the greatest historical and Biblical hero but it is not for his efforts at self-improvement. Actually, on one occasion, God was so upset with him He sought to kill him (Ex. 4). The reason Moses is held in such high esteem has to do with what he did for others. By liberating the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, he helped improve their lives.

The Apostle Paul is another one of my favorite Biblical heroes. Again, I do not admire him for his self-improvement techniques. He himself said: “what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, that is what I do”. Paul is another one of those people that we admire and consider a great person because we value him based on what he accomplished in the lives of others. Paul successfully shared the Gospel of Jesus not because he was a good businessman, kept an ideal weight, or was dressed in the latest fashion.

As I was studying Biblical numerology, I found it interesting that the number 16 is symbolic of love and loving. The number 16 is symbolic of Gods love being perfected in us. It is also symbolic of Gods love being extended to others through us. What if, in this New Year 2016, instead of asking ourselves what we can do to self-improve, we instead asked ourselves what can I do to improve the lives of the people around me? What can I do to show and extend Gods love to others? I believe I know what would happen. We would end the year being better persons having developed real, tangible self-improvements.

1 John 3:16 NIV

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

 

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NICKY CRUZ @ CASA DE ALABANZA MIAMI
Sunday, February, 21 @ 11AM

 

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