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Happy
new year!
Gluckliches neues Jahr! (German)
Seh‑heh
yea bouk mahn‑he‑baht uo‑seh‑yoo!
(Korean)
C
HoBbim Toaom (Russian)
Felice
Anno Nuovo! (Italian)
Feliz Ano
Nuevo! (Spanish)
Any way you say it, the
hope is still the same for all of us.
The new year brings an opportunity to
forget last year with all its challenges and missed possibilities.
It is an opportunity for us to look
forward to the excitement of 365 days in which to make changes and
grow in all areas of our lives.
Most of us make some sort of
resolutions or
promises to ourselves about things we are going to
stop or things
we are going to start
during the New Year.
But, as we all know, it is easy to
make promises.
It takes determination, patience, time
and honesty to keep most of those promises.
Suppose every promise you made, I mean EVERY ONE, was written down
and you were required to sign on the dotted line?
You would probably think twice before making most of them. It
is amazing how we sometimes flippantly agree to do or go or say
something, only to forget and say, "Oh, well, I’ll just say I’m
sorry and everything will be okay." The
problem is that the person to whom you made the promise may begin to
reevaluate your honesty and friendship. If
you have had the problem of failing to keep promises I encourage you
to put that habit behind you and start fresh with the four things
mentioned above, determination, patience, time and honesty. Philippians
3:13 says, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken
hold of it. But one thing I
do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I
press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called
me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Imagine
that there is a prize for forgetting the old things and pressing
forward toward the new things!
Common Sense Application
1.
Carry a small notepad for a week and
write down EVERY promise oF any kind that you make.
Record the time and date you made good
on each promise.
You will be surprised what you
discover.
2.
Ask a close trusted friend to tell you
truthfully if you have ever broken a promise to them.
If so, ask forgiveness and keep the
promise if possible.
Promise
not to break future promises!
3. Be determined to grow
into a consistent promise keeper. You
will be amazed how your reputation will improve among all those
around you.
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