The beginning of a year brings a strong desire to change ourselves. It’s like we have to re-create ourselves every 12 months. I weary of New Year resolutions. Instead, I’ll aim for Goals that are linked to any date or event. When I discover something that needs to be improved, then I’ll do it, whether in January or July. But how can we use goals to produce a New You in 2025? Read on, and I will share one key change that can make all the difference.
Embrace the Process of a New You in 2025
Teddy Amenabar at The Washington Postsuggests that a goal with immediate rewards is best and more likely to produce long-term change. He cites various experts including Kaitlyn Woolley of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Dr. Woolley says, “The best motivator is when people find the immediate experience rewarding.” She may be right, but that leads to the instant gratification trap in which we disdain hard work in favor of a quick fix. Plus, there are no significant achievements that come fast.
In contrast, Rachael Jones of TGC (The Gospel Coalition) rightly says that the Christian looks at change differently than the world. “The truth is, you won’t wake up on January 1, 2025, as a different person. But you could on January 1, 2026. That’s the slow but significant process of sanctification.” She has an excellent point: Real change takes time.
So then, embrace a process that may be painfully slow but incredibly powerful.
Only God Can Make a New You in 2025
Here is the key I promised in the first paragraph. You cannot make a New You in 2025 or at any other time! The most cogent writing on this comes from Jen Oshman. I commend Unpacking “New Year, New Me for your reading.
Oshman says, “For most of us, when we say, “New year, new me,” we mean that we will pursue self-improvement via self-help and self-control. Pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps is as American as apple pie. But when our New Year’s resolutions are rooted only in ourselves, we discover some tough truths about our human condition. Those tough truths are what derail our attempts at improvement. “Bootstrapping” Is about self and my strength. There’s a certain hubris to the idea that we can somehow fix ourselves.
I love this line: “Self-help ultimately leads to self-defeat.” She then closes with,
Here’s what’s true this New Year’s Day and every other day: you and I and all humans were made by God and for God (Col. 1:17). Therefore, we will not find purpose, peace, or satisfying soul-deep change outside of God. He is the source of our lives, the goal of our lives, and the substance of our lives. To pursue the good life outside of Christ is futile.
Jen Oshman
The greatest key to finding peace, joy, and improvement is only in Christ. I think we know that, but we want the quick fix. As the 1898 hymn by Cyrus Nusbaum says, “Let Him Have His Way with Thee.” Remember, 2026 is only a year away. Wouldn’t it be great to give yourself to Jesus today?
