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Jan 13, 2024 06:00am

A New Year and Your Closest Neighbor

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“May your trials and troubles this coming year last as long as your new year’s resolutions!”

I heard this statement the other day and couldn’t help but smile. Joking aside, most resolutions do not last very long. But we make them anyway. There is something about a new year that makes us want to be better. Benjamin Franklin said, “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” This is laudable advice and goal worthy.

What goals are you setting this year? Some people set fitness goals. Other’s set financial goals. Some set business or educational goals, while others set relationship goals. I submit that the most important goals are the ones that involve relationships. Relationships are foundational to life. In fact, the Bible is all about relationships—ours to God and then with others. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Next to God, no other relationship is more important than the one with your closest neighbor – your spouse. What goals for your marriage will you set this year? Seeing that it is a new year, it’s a great time to reflect upon your marriage and ask some important questions. Here are 5 to consider.

Is there sin in my life that I need to repent from?
This is a hard question to ask, but imperative. Sin (transgression of God’s law, 1 John 3:4) affects everyone around you. Unconfessed sin will hinder your growth, open the door for temptations, and keep you from having a great marriage. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy,” Proverbs 28:13.

Does my marriage bring God glory?
Why did you get married? If you are a child of God, I hope that the answer is to give God glory. The Christian marriage is intended to bring Him glory in and through our witness here on earth. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created,” Revelation 4:11.

Do I display God’s love?
Part of being a witness for God’s glory is showing the love of Christ to those around us. As mentioned above, the greatest commandment of all is to love God and then others. Love is an act of the will. Am I daily displaying God’s unconditional love to my spouse? “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love,” 1 John 4:7-8.

Am I pointing others to God?
The Christian marriage has a purpose much higher than selfish pleasures. Is my spouse more like Christ because of me? Do my children want to have a godly marriage because of what they see? When the unsaved look at my marriage are they drawn to God and His glorious truths? Do they look at us and say, “I want what they have”? “Let your light so shine before men,” Matthew 5:16.

Is there room for improvement?
Can I have a better marriage? Can I be closer to the Lord? Can I be a better prayer warrior? Can my spouse and I do more together for the Kingdom of God? We have a saying in our family that “The biggest room in our home is the room for improvement.”

What about you? Are you “pressing on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”? (Philippians 3:14) Join me is seeking to glorify God, display His love, and point others to Him in every relationship this year, especially in marriage.