I wasn’t going to do it. I’ve fallen to the temptation in the past. Set a resolution on January 1, break it by January 2. I’ve done the word of the year a couple of times too. To be honest, I don’t remember most of them. I know one year it was “create” but big deal. I live to create so I might as well have selected “breathe.” In many ways all this resolution stuff has started to feel like a pointless exercise, so I decided to fly by the seat of my pants this year. I was letting the resolution train pass me by.
Every Time I Think I’m Out…
Yes, I thought I was out, but yesterday, at lunch, it came up. My son teaches fifth grade and the administration of his school has an emphasis on getting the students to set goals. He challenged his students to set a one-word resolution, and he started debating what his word would be. My wife joined in and before long I couldn’t help myself. I started to think of what mine might be. Every time I think I’m out, they pull me back in.
If You Fail to Plan…
It’s really not such a bad thing. Goals are important, and as the old saying goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” The problem is some of my plans over the years have become so grandiose that I was destined to fail. I didn’t want to do that again. Besides, the Bible says, “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.” I don’t want to be evil.
Whose Plan?
No, the Bible is not against planning. The above passage is more about letting God drive your plans. The one who sees all and knows all, the One who created us and already has a plan and a purpose for us, should probably have a say in what our plans might be. When I have a plan and He has a different plan, and those plans become at odds, which path will I take? Will I end up mad at God if it goes His way and not mine? I know it’s happened to me before. When I thought my art talent meant I needed to be a professional artist, and that dream continually fell through, well, at times that was tough on my faith.
Hello, My Name is Dave…
…and I’m a workaholic. This is the other issue. When I lock in on something, I can be driven beyond excess. What should rightly manifest as determination becomes obsession instead, and that is rarely healthy, at least for me.
Success?
As we sat at the lunch table, the first word that came into my mind was “success.” Nope, that word will feed my tendencies toward excess. After all, who defines success? Will I end up trying to keep up with the Joneses? Will I end up doing what I often do and making success this sliding scale of a goal so I’m never satisfied and I can’t reach the goal. And again, what if God’s definition of success is different than mine?
Health?
My wife said “health,” and I could see why. She’s had a tough year, and we’re all praying that this year is better for all of us. And yes, health is a worthy goal. I do want health. I think everyone does. And yes there are things I can and must do toward that end, but there is also a lot of it that is outside of our control. Plus I can be obsessive, and if the goal is health, I can tend to worry about it, a lot. This creates a problem Jesus spoke of. “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew 6:27&version=NIV) In truth worry doesn’t add to life and health, it takes away from it. I want to do all I can to be healthy, but health can’t be my Word. Health is in God’s hands and I need to trust Him.
Eureka!
This morning, I was still thinking of words, and I decided to make it a matter of prayer. And almost as soon as I did, I felt led, not to a word, but to a verse. Ephesians 5:16, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians 5:16&version=NIV) As soon as it came to mind, I knew I had it, but how to put that into a single word? Then it hit me and I had my Word…
MAXIMIZE!
Now yes, I know that word could be a great trigger to my workaholic tendencies, but that’s not what it means to me, at least not in this case. What I need to do is make the most of the opportunities before me. It means I need to stop obsessing over everything that pops into my head. It means I need to live in the moment and make the most of those moments. It means I need to be present with the ones I love and maximize our time together. After all, this time on earth will come to an end some day, and those times with the people I love, will be the moments that matter.
Maximum Effectiveness
Maximize means I don’t respond to silence or the occasional creative block by doomscrolling. It means when I am working and I get stuck, I try to do something positive, that will move me closer to my God-given purpose, not scrolling through things that either show me how evil these days really are, leaving me worried, frustrated or hopeless. Those things are the exact opposite of the maximized life. The other side of this scrolling might leave me comparing myself to what people choose to show about their lives online. This is also counterproductive. God’s blessings on other people have nothing to do with His love of purpose for me. I need to live out His purpose for my life, and that is maximized when I make the most of the opportunities He gives me.
Bottom Line…
Bottom line, I believe with all my heart that we are all created on purpose for a purpose, and that we need to live on purpose. The closest any of us will get to that is making the most of the opportunities God has put before us. If we do that, we will maximize our lives. I think I have found my word, not just for 2026 but for the rest of my life, unless God chooses to show me something else, maximize is mine from now on. It’s funny the first thing I did after getting that word, was write this article. Why is that the case? Because it felt like the opportunity to maximize these moments by using the opportunity I have in writing this column to encourage you to maximize your moments, by living out your divine purpose in these evil days.
Who knows, maybe if enough of us did that, the days might become a little less evil. What’s your word for the year. May you live it out all year long and beyond, and may God bless you as you seek to live out His will. Happy New Year!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In