Before we start, I want to be clear: I am not one of those “New year, new me” people. If people want to make a change in their lives, they shouldn’t wait until the new year to begin working on themselves. Human beings will always be in need of improvement. The earth taking another trip around the sun (like it has for thousands of years) should not define when that improvement takes place. However, for some of us, the new year—along with the new semester—provides an opportunity to reflect back on our recent past, make observations on it and decide where to go from there. And in that spirit, I propose to the students of Southern that it is time for a recommitment.
It doesn’t matter where you are in your spiritual walk—at some point, we’ve all slipped up. And we will again because we’re sinful human beings. When I was first studying to be baptized at 11 years old, my father drilled into my head Paul’s words to the Romans: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
“It doesn’t matter how good of a person you are, whether you’ve been baptized or not,” he said to me. “You have fallen short, and you will again.”
Because of this falling short—this failure to measure up to our potential as Christians and as lights in God’s world—it is time for a recommitment to Jesus Christ. It’s time for you to look at the way you’ve been living your life and decide what kind of a life you want from here on out. As children of God, we deserve better than the life we have picked out for ourselves. We were made for a life of constant learning and constant improvement. We weren’t made to remain stagnant in our relationships with God; we were made to continue growing, to continue moving.
If you’ve found that your spiritual walk isn’t moving forward, if you’ve found that you’re stuck in a rut, that’s okay. It’s up to you now to decide what you want for yourself. It’s up to you now to decide how to move forward.
Join me in the new year. Let’s recommit our lives to Jesus.