Selfishness is never good motivation

Today you will no doubt be inundated with tips for making your New Year’s resolutions successful. You will be given five-step programs, success stories and pleas to try this weight-loss program or that gym.

Although there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting a fresh start on life, there is a reason why so many people fail. The motivating factor in most New Year’s resolutions is selfishness. Marketers and self-help gurus appeal to our egos by declaring we’ll be improving ourselves if we buy their CDs or come to their seminars; however, it’s our focus on ourselves that dooms us to failure from the start.

As a boy, I was very cocky and strong-willed, and many times this led to trouble. One incident that will forever haunt me occurred on the beaches of Jekyll Island, Ga., close to where I was raised.

I was 10 years old and thought I was king of the world. Unfortunately, my friend Jenny knew this about me. We went down to the beach for a swim and she made it to the water before I did. While I was taking off my shoes and getting ready to enter the wonderful ocean surf, she called to me from the water and urged me to run as fast as I could towards her to show her how fast I could sprint.

Without wasting a second, I threw my shirt off, stuck out my chest and began barreling towards her. What I didn’t know was slippery green algae was hiding just below the water’s shallow surface. It was quite a spectacular fall, and we all got a good laugh from it. But I did learn a valuable lesson that day: Pride does go before a fall.

While most people’s resolutions themselves are noble, the reason behind them or the method of achieving them may be selfish. Losing weight, quitting smoking, getting out of debt and becoming an entrepreneur are all admirable goals, but what is their purpose?

The Apostle Paul summed things up in his ministers’ conference in the book of Acts. As he is on his way to Jerusalem, he thinks he may either be imprisoned or put to death once he arrives, so he stops in the town of Miletus to address Ephesian pastors and leaders. With the thought that it would be the last time he would speak to them, Paul attempts to give them the most important pearls of wisdom he has, as if he will never see them again.

The very last thing Paul says to them before he sails away is in Acts 20:34-35: “You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

The one thing that will cause you to achieve your goals in 2008 or any other year is to focus on something other than yourself. If you approach weight loss with the attitude of “I’m doing it for me,” you will most likely fail; however, if you come at it with the idea of being healthy so you can see your children grow up, you will have a much better chance of achieving your goal.

When giving is our motivation rather than receiving, we are going to find ourselves reaching our goals much faster. Any farmer knows that if you don’t keep some of the harvest to replant again the next year, you won’t have any crop to harvest then.

The same is true of your goals. If you don’t have a purpose that’s greater than yourself, your goals have little chance of being reached. It’s when you turn your resolutions inside out that you will find success and will truly feel good about yourself when you reach the finish line.

Jesse Miller is youth pastor at Family Christian Center in Palmer and can be contacted at silverhonda84@hotmail.com.