We all want to get better at something in 2019: in our finances, health, relationships, work, skills, etc.. There are, however, certain intangible qualities of character and attitudes of heart that we must maintain if we are to get the most out of the new year.  

The Peter Principle  

We all have something we need to leave behind in 2018: a mistake, a failure, an offense, a missed opportunity, a sinful habit. As a result, you may feel you’re the biggest failure there is. And, you know what, you may be! 

But the Peter principle says, “when I have failed, then God can succeed”. 

Peter professed to have a stronger love for Jesus than all the other disciples. But in a greater way than they did, Peter failed Jesus and denied him three times.  Though Peter had said, “I will never deny you,” he did.

Every one of us in 2018 said with Peter, “I will never”. But we did. Jesus forgave and restored Peter and by God’s grace Peter became the greatest leader of the early church. You see, nothing succeeds in Jesus’s hand like our failures. When we are broken, then Jesus can make something new, something beautiful. In the end it wasn’t Peter’s strong love that won Jesus over. It was Jesus’s strong love that won Peter over. 

The Paul Principle 

We all have something we need to bring with us from 2018: a weakness, a hurt, sickness, a lack of ability or understanding or opportunity, a circumstance out of our control. As a result you may feel you’re the weakest one. And, you know what, you may be! 

But the Paul Principle says, “when I am weak, then God can be strong”. 

There was a point in Paul’s life where he was afflicted with a “thorn in the flesh”. Though he repeatedly asked God to take it from him, God wouldn’t. Rather, God promised, he would give Paul something for it: “my grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). 

Perhaps, like so many of us, Paul thought that to be strong was to have no weakness. But God’s objective isn’t to do away with our weaknesses, but with our self-sufficiency. You see, nothing fails in our hands like our success. It’s not the power of Christ minus our weakness that makes us strong. It’s Christ’s power PLUS our weakness that makes us strong. 

The Gideon Principle 

We all have something we need to look forward to in 2019: a dream, a challenge, an opportunity, change, growth. As a result you may feel like the least likely to succeed. And, you know what, you may be! 

But the Gideon Principle says, “when I am small, then God can be glorious”. 

Gideon was a man called by God to save Israel from her enemies. Gideon, though, belonged to the weakest clan of the tribe, was the least in his father’s household, and had the smallest army—300 down from 32,000. If Gideon was to save his life, he would need to lose it to God.

We all want to be glorious: good, beautiful, worthy of praise or admiration. So we seek our own glory, to make ourselves happy, to save our own lives. Imagine a room and in the center a beautiful Christmas tree with dozens of gifts underneath. You sit down and begin to open each one, each one labeled “From: Myself, To: Myself”. Would that make you happy? Would you be satisfied? No! You can only be happy and find happiness in another.

Gideon’s glory and happiness was to be found not in himself, but in God. It was when he surrendered to God that he found himself drawn into God’s glory. It was in praising God that he discovered his true happiness. It was in becoming small that the greatness of God entered his life.

When we look to Jesus this new year, we must know that he is not merely a good teacher. He teaches good principles, but he is infinitely more. He is the wisdom, power, and righteousness of God (1 Corinthians 1:24, 30). To know him is to live life differently: abundantly. To lose our life to him is to find our life in him: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) In Jesus I enter and am entered by God’s eternal life.