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Some folks spend lots of energy poring over the previous year and committing themselves to improvement or to turning over a new leaf and so they make New Year\u2019s Resolutions. I\u2019d like to make a mild case why not to, but it\u2019s mostly fun and I\u2019d be glad to hear you chirp up with your arguments against<\/b><\/i> New Year\u2019s resolutions.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
1. You won\u2019t keep them so don\u2019t bother.<\/div>\n
2. It smacks of moralism or legalism or self-absorbed righteousness or some level of Pelagianism.<\/div>\n
3. It can get embarrassing when someone asks you what you\u2019ve resolved and you admit that what you\u2019ve resolved is not for polite or public company. Winks and nods and eyebrows and wondering and suggesting and \u2026<\/div>\n
4. It can get even more embarrassing if your resolve is to do something that others don\u2019t think you should do \u2014 like drinking more wine (of course, for your heart and health) \u2014 or playing more golf or asserting yourself more or asking for more money at the office or grading harder or easier.<\/div>\n
5. You can get yourself into a pickle with your spouse if she or he hears what you\u2019ve resolved and they knew absolutely nothing about it.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some folks spend lots of energy poring over the previous year and committing themselves to improvement or to turning over a new leaf and so they make New Year\u2019s Resolutions. I\u2019d like to make a mild case why not to, but it\u2019s mostly fun and I\u2019d be glad to hear you chirp up with your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Year's Resolutions: 5 Reasons Not To<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some folks spend lots of energy poring over the previous year and committing themselves to improvement or to turning over a new leaf and so they make New\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/02\/new-years-resolutions-5-reasons-not-to\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Year's Resolutions: 5 Reasons Not To\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some folks spend lots of energy poring over the previous year and committing themselves to improvement or to turning over a new leaf and so they make New\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/02\/new-years-resolutions-5-reasons-not-to\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-01-02T11:05:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/02\/new-years-resolutions-5-reasons-not-to\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/02\/new-years-resolutions-5-reasons-not-to\/\",\"name\":\"New Year's Resolutions: 5 Reasons Not To\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-01-02T11:05:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-01-02T11:05:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"Some folks spend lots of energy poring over the previous year and committing themselves to improvement or to turning over a new leaf and so they make New\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/02\/new-years-resolutions-5-reasons-not-to\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/02\/new-years-resolutions-5-reasons-not-to\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/02\/new-years-resolutions-5-reasons-not-to\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Year’s Resolutions: 5 Reasons Not To\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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