Paul Tripp has noted that the effectiveness of resolutions is not in the decisiveness of one moment (e.g., January 1 resolutions), but in the 10,000 moment-by-moment decisions we make to reinforce those resolutions —
You and I live in little moments, and if God doesn’t rule our little moments and doesn’t work to recreate us in the middle of them, then there is no hope for us, because that is where you and I live.
The little moments of life are profoundly important precisely because they are the little moments that we live in and that form us.…
In these small moments [Christ] is delivering every redemptive promise he has made to you. In these unremarkable moments, he is working to rescue you from you and transform you into his likeness. By sovereign grace he places you in daily little moments that are designed to take you beyond your character, wisdom and grace so that you will seek the help and hope that can only be found in him. In a lifelong process of change, he is undoing you and rebuilding you again—exactly what each one of us needs!
Read the entire post at Desiring God.
Justin Taylor has also compiled several thoughtful discussions about resolutions and the new year. Read them at Between Two Worlds.
I particularly noted David Powlison’s essay from last year in which he noted,
Whether petty or profound, New Year’s resolutions as such merely express good intentions. They describe self-referential problems – “I find abc displeasing about myself.” They make no reckoning with the power of our passions, fears, habits . . . inner sinfulness, sin directly against God Himself . . . and with the power of outer evils (including enculturation) that allure and constrain us. They propose self-dependent solutions – “I resolve to do xyz to change myself.”
Words of Grace 