Category: Life

The Secret to Making New Year’s Resolutions Work

One thing I learned from the insurance industry, a lesson that was reinforced in business school, was the importance of having a plan, then focusing on the plan, not the over-arching goal.

My regional sales manager at State Farm used to say, “A goal without a plan is a pipedream.”

Yes, she was brutal, but she was right.

In every insurance position I worked, we were given production goals. The trick to hitting those goals was to formulate a plan based on statistical probabilities.

“If only 7% of the people I call answer the phone, and if I’m only able to sell half of them, and I am required to sell 35 policies this month, then that means that I will need to place 1,000 phone calls this month in order to hit my sales goal.”

So, instead of looking at the leader board and seeing how many sales I’ve made, or how many I haven’t, the key to success was to track my daily activity to ensure that I was on my way to making those 1,000 calls. More often than not, if I followed the plan, success followed.

As I talk to people about their New Year’s resolutions, I am hearing the same things. “I want to save more money.”

“I want to lose _____ pounds.”

“I want to spend more time with my kids.”

The key to success in these resolutions is to build a plan to meet these goals, then make the plan your resolution.

So, instead of saying “I want to save more money,” say, “My New Year’s resolution is to put _______ dollars into my savings account every month.”

Instead of “I want to lose 50 pounds,” come up with a diet/exercise regiment that will get you there, then make that your resolution. “My New Year’s resolution is to eliminate processed sugars, don’t drink my calories, and to walk one mile per day.”

If your resolution is to spend more time with your kids, put a numeric value on that. “My resolution is to spend 30 minutes with my kids daily.”

If you frame your resolutions in quantifiable actions like this, broken down to a level where you can measure and achieve progress daily, you’ll have more success in following and realizing your resolutions.

As for me, my resolutions are as follows.

Read through the Bible (Genesis to Revelation)
Walk one mile per day.
Consume 1,500 calories or less every day.
Invest $300 per month.
Obtain my Class B drivers’ license by June.

I believe these resolutions will help me achieve my goals of growing Spiritually, becoming healthier physically, and being in a better financial situation by the end of 2026.

So, what are some of your resolutions?

How should Christian parents handle “Santa Claus?”

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Somehow, parenting has become more complicated over the past 40 years. When I was a child, Christmas was simple. We enjoyed a huge dinner with extended family on Christmas Eve, exchanged presents, chatted and played card games or dominoes, then went to bed.

My grandfather always slept in the same room as us kids, vowing to help us “stay up and catch Santa Claus.” In reality, he was the lookout, the one responsible for making sure we were all asleep before the adults brought out the big toys brought to us by “Santa Claus.”

At some point early Christmas morning, I’d be awakened by a cousin or an adult who discovered, “Santa’s been here!”

It was fun. It was joyous. And, it was make-believe.

Later that week, we’d go to church to worship God and learn about Jesus.

It never occurred to me to question the fact that the same adults telling me about Santa were also telling me about Jesus. The thought never crossed my mind that “if the adults are perpetuating the Santa hoax, what if Jesus is a hoax as well?”

The thought never occurred to me because I never really bought into the Santa Claus myth.

Even as a grade-school student, I understood that the Santa legend was make-believe, and a fun way to celebrate Christmas, and that God was real.

I never believed in the mall Santas (and was actually somewhat bothered by them). I never actually expected to catch Santa in my house. (I was actually trying to catch the adults so I could say, “A-HA!”)

That’s a skill that I not only possessed, but that was very common in my generation. We seemed to have a knack for separating fantasy from reality, even if we preferred to indulge and live within the fantasy as much as possible.

This skillset, however, is not unique to my generation. I believe kids today are also highly capable. In fact, kids today are more likely to leave the fantasy at a younger age thanks to information available via YouTube and Google, which is at their fingertips as they play CandyCrush on Mom’s new iPhone.

You think they reached level 10, but they’re actually going down a rabbit hole of information on a 4th-century saint who cared for children.

Which brings me to the topic at hand… how should Christian parents handle the myth of Santa Claus?

I believe the best approach is to treat Santa Claus as a fantasy, while teaching kids the true meaning of Christmas.

It’s okay to indulge the fantasy with “Maybe Santa will bring you one,” or “Are you going to be on the naughty, or nice list?” and to sing songs like “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Just like my earlier post on Halloween, I will again advocate for letting the kids have fun and allowing childhood to be “magical.”

Childhood is under enough pressure as it is, with every political group and social organization trying to destroy it in the name of their cause without us taking away what little joy remains to satisfy our piety.

So, convince the kids to go to bed early so they can wake up to see what Santa brought. Leave milk and cookies out for him (because, you know… Dad), and act surprised and overjoyed when they discover their gifts on Christmas morning. Have fun. Make memories. Be warm and happy.

But… under no circumstance, should we let the meaning of the holiday be lost in that.

First, keep the reason for Christmas front and center, the birth of Christ, and the salvation He brought for all people. That’s the true gift of Christmas.

Secondly, teach the kids a little Christian history. There’s nothing wrong with them learning who Saint Nicholas really was. Their learning will help the transition from fantasy to reality, while maintaining a healthy sense of “play-pretend.”

Finally, when they question the reality of Santa, instead of trying to keep their faith in a mythical being that doesn’t exist, respond by telling them how much fun it was to indulge this fantasy.

It’s rare that the myth of Santa Claus is successfully used to destroy a young person’s faith in Christ. Still, by successfully navigating the balance of fantasy vs. reality, you can establish yourself not only as a great parent, but also as one who can be trusted for guidance, mentorship, and entertainment.

The story of Cain and Abel should scare us

Why did God have respect for Abel’s offering and not Cain’s?

The answer to that question should have us doing some serious soul-searching.

In Genesis 4, we’re told the story of Cain and Abel. The story is that Cain and Abel both brought their offerings to the LORD.

Cain, a master gardener, brought some of the fruit he had grown to the LORD. Abel, a skilled shepherd, brought of the firstlings of his flock.

Scripture records in Genesis 4 how God respected Abel’s offering but had no respect for Cain’s offering. This upset Cain, as his countenance fell and he began to harbor a hostile attitude toward God, and toward Abel.

God confronted Cain about his attitude, and Cain confronted Abel, ultimately killing him. This led to Cain’s banishment, his horticulture skills being supernaturally taken from him, and his ostracization from what little society existed at that point.

Now, the question becomes, “Why did God have respect for Abel’s offering, but not for Cain’s?”

Many answers have been offered to this question over the years. Few have any real basis in scripture.

Some say God respected Abel’s offering over Cain’s because it was a blood sacrifice. While this answer does make sense (because scripture says without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins), it overlooks the fact that grain offerings were part of the Temple sacrifices outlined in the book of Leviticus. Plus, scripture does not give that explanation for this specific circumstance.

Others say Abel brought the best of his firstlings to sacrifice, while Cain brought subpar fruit to sacrifice. Again, this makes sense, as God has been known to reject subpar sacrifices in other passages, but once again, lacks any scriptural support of this particular instance.

In fact, if you look at Cain’s demeanor following the sacrifices, you may get the idea that Cain brought his best. He is really offended that God did not honor his sacrifice. This is not the attitude who of someone who was giving his leftovers, but rather of someone who wanted God to be impressed, and wasn’t.

So, what was the difference between Cain’s sacrifice and Abel’s sacrifice? Why did God respect Abel’s offering, and not Cain’s?

Scripture (to my knowledge) only addresses this once. In Hebrews 11:4, which says, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”

What separated the sacrifices was that Abel offered his by faith. Cain offered his out of obligation.

Faith is a deep-rooted trust in the Lord, and a conviction of His truth. Faith trusts not only that God exists, but that He is good and He intends good toward us. Faith believes that God rewards those who diligently come to Him.

It was that trust and conviction that motivated, that spurred Abel’s sacrifice. Cain made his offering because “it’s what you’re supposed to do.”

As I pondered this while preparing Wednesday night’s lesson on Hebrews 11, it hit me… how much do I do out of obligation to God?

What all do I do because it’s what a pastor should do?

And what all do I do because I love God and I trust Him?

The things that we do “just because,” or because they are expected, or because they are a great idea, God looks at those actions the same way he looked a Cain’s fruit. It might have been some of the best fruit ever grown, but God did not respect the heart from which it was given.

However, the things we do because we love God create a sweet smell in his presence. He regards that as highly as He does the sacrifice that Abel made. He honors such actions and such efforts.

The moral of this story in Genesis 4, and the scriptural commentary given in Hebrews 11:4, is that we need to reflect on our heart, learn to trust and love God, and learn to let that love and trust motivate our actions and offerings to God.

So, let’s take an inventory on our lives. And once we have that inventory complete, let’s correct our motivation where our motivation needs correcting, and our actions where our actions need correcting. We want to please God, and we want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Having your faith deeply rooted and living by that faith is how you will come to hear those words.

A Dissertation on White Wall Tires

Hands down, Cars is easily one of my favorite movies. It falls in somewhere behind Forrest Gump, but ahead of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Cars is a sentimental piece evoking nostalgia for Route 66, the Southwestern lifestyle, and for the relationships of small-town life.

There’s a moment in the film, as Lightning McQueen is preparing to return to his normal life of racing for Piston Cup glory, where he decides to patronize the businesses of the cars that hosted him in the fictitious small Route 66 town of Radiator Springs.

First stop, Luigi’s tire shop.

Luigi, who hasn’t had a customer in years, is overjoyed at the prospect of fitting Lightning for the perfect set of tires. (The scene is reminiscent of the old days of buying shoes in an actual shoe store with a salesman who not only helped you find the right fit, but the right look as well.)

Lightning, being as good a customer as possible, asks for the best set of black wall tires Luigi has, to which Luigi iconically replies, “No, you don’t know what you want, Luigi knows what you want.”

Lightning replies, “You’re the expert,” and completely goes along with whatever Luigi suggests. The same thing happens when Lightning visits Ramone’s paint and body shop.

The result, a shiny, sparkling Lightning McQueen that radiates on a main street that has just been repaved, with the neon signs fixed, and its Route 66 glory on full display. For a moment, the people, er, cars of Radiator Springs enjoy a beautiful time reminiscent of their former glory.

Lightning McQueen, a modern racecar, had only known racing tires, black wall, slick tread, and made by Goodyear. Yet, when he followed Luigi’s advice, he was introduced to a whole new world.

Out on my walk today, I got to thinking about how often we fail to understand what we really want, defining our desires around things that we’ve already known, and missing blessings that we’ve never seen.

You see, we don’t know what we want. God knows what we want.

Just like Lightning thought black wall racing slicks would meet his need, as it is all he has ever known, we think that our desires can be fulfilled with a better job, more money, better health, or maybe we’re just wishing that our one main problem would be solved.

And as Lightning so innocently asked for black wall tires, we pray to God asking for those things. Asking for the new job, the financial solution, for healing, or for God to resolve our conflict and win our battle once and for all.

But, unlike Lightning, who was fitted and placed into a set of white wall tires within a matter of seconds, often, our requests seem to go unanswered for days, weeks, months and even years.

What strikes me about this is that scripture says in Romans 8:28 that “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

The premise of this verse is that God is good. Not only is God good, but God does good. Not only does God do good (for the greater good), but He does what is good for us personally.

Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for our good. Our own good. Everything that life brings you, God uses it for your good.

That doesn’t mean that everything that happens in your life was God’s idea, neither does it mean that everything that happens in your life is good.

Some things happen in your life that are horrible, things that were perpetrated upon you by people who had the worst intentions. Yet, God, in His infinite wisdom, knowledge and goodness, saw a way to turn the evil done to you into a blessing. So, the road may be paved in suffering, but God drew the map and the road is taking you someplace amazing.

And the wild thing about this concept is that the good God is leading you to is something that you may never have imagined. That thing may be better than the solution or the desire you have imagined.

Sometimes, we get what we think we wanted, only to find out it’s not what we really wanted.

But, with God, we get what we didn’t really think we wanted, only to find out it’s what we really wanted all along.

The thing that helps me get through tough times, and gives me hope even when my prayers go unanswered, is that God knows me better than I know myself. Therefore, even if I don’t get what I ask for, I will come to realize that the answer that I do get will be good, and will probably be better than I could’ve imagined.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.