It's been so long ...

... since I've actually written on this thing. Does it still work? Can blogs go out of date like a carton of milk?

It's the third day of the new year and I've (probably subconsciously) stayed away from the word "resolution." People usually have two outward responses to it: being a champion of the ways this is going to be the year or derision.

The fact is that everyone, on some level, plans to make even the smallest change starting every Jan. 1. It's natural to. We like start points that are simple to come back to. We can make general goals (be more organized) or specific ones (lose 30 pounds). The point is no one wants to be a worse person, you hope. To become better, there has to be change.

2 Corinthians 3:16-17 says that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Boy, is this an easy one to read however we want to. If there's something I want to indulge in, I can go ahead because God gives me freedom to do so, right? Nope.

The Spirit of the Lord has an element to it: conviction. For us to be convicted, we have to acknowledge we've done something wrong. At that point we take steps to fix what we've messed up. This is also called confronting sin.

After the holidays we're stuffed with food and experiencing the financial hangover that comes with Christmas. We're convicted, at least a little. Some more so than others. So we make resolutions to get our lives back on track.

What happens when we stick with these resolutions? We experience some success. We see some changes. We feel freedom from those overeating or overspending habits. When change comes, it feels tough during the process. But sticking it out brings a new perspective. It brings freedom.