And so I wrote 12 resolutions to help me fight this battle in the Lord’s favor, so that Christ might be glorified rather than me.

1. Resolved, to live and act for God’s glory in all aspects of life rather than my own.

2. Resolved, in light of resolution one, to desire a wife and act in pursuit of a wife for God’s glory rather than my own.

3. Resolved, to not act in order to gain acceptance of others, but act in order to maximize the glorification of God.

4. Resolved, to not be ruled by sarcasm, joking, mocking, but that my speech, tone and mannerisms might be pleasing to God and glorifying to His Son.

5. Resolved, to not speak pridefully or arrogantly of myself, but of Christ and Christ alone.

6. Resolved, to lead others to glorify God.

7. Resolved, to have an ever-striving pursuit of maximizing God’s glory in every aspect of my life, from my actions, to my speech and my appearance.

8. Resolved, to not dress in order to gain glory for myself.

9. Resolved, to not find my identity, or confidence, in myself but rather in Christ, who died for me, and the Father, who sent him.

10. Resolved, to never be satisfied with my holiness, but to continually resolve myself to fight for holiness.

11. Resolved, to follow Christ to the death of myself.

12. Resolved, to trust God knowing that His will is perfect.

Whose glory do you live for? Are you living to further your own glory, are your actions and thoughts for your glory, or are you living to further Christ’s glory in thought and deed?

But I decided to change that, for I realized if I was to be a man I would have to be a risk taker. I would have to not just be willing to put my heart on the line, put my pride on the line, put my life on the line, but to do so. But most importantly, I realized that if I was going to bring maximum glory to God I would have to be willing to take risks. Whether it be evangelism, missions trips or preaching, I would have to set myself up to do uncomfortable, awkward and frightening things.

On April 25, 2009 I wrote a note to myself  “Resolved, to live my life without compromise. GO!” And so I put this in stone for me and for all Young Calvinists.

Resolution Six.

Resolved, to risk my life, my health, my status, my comforts, my dreams, my desires, my safety and security, in wisdom in order that I might bring maximum glory to Christ, and thus to God the Father. To not whimper or flee from the difficult tasks in life but to battle through, determined against the enemy within.

But the battle against sin is not an easy one. To think so is to guarantee defeat. The battle against sin is one that needs preparation, training, learning and action. John Owen wrote in  The Mortification of Sin,

Let no man think to kill sin with few, easy, or gentle strokes. He who hath once smitten a serpent, if he follow not on his blow until he be slain, may repent that ever he began the quarrel. And so will he who undertakes to deal with sin, and pursues it not constantly to the death.

In light of this,

Resolution Five.

Resolved, to never act, nor in word or thought, in any manner which does not glorify God. And therefore, to ever fight against sin, declaring war continually each day, in prayer, in scripture, and in the mind, so as to do all that is humanly possible in the fight against the remaining wickedness within and thus glorify Christ.

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Resolution Four.

Resolved, to determine prior to execution how God might be most glorified in every act, in every word and thought, and do that which is determined no matter the cost of one’s self.

Resolution Three.

Resolved, to contemplate the state of my heart daily so that I might live confidently in its destiny.

Resolution Two.

Resolved, to live as if each moment will be my last, and the next will be at His throne.

Resolution One.

Resolved, to live every moment for the glory of God, never compromising for selfish motives, less risky endeavors, or a passive attitude.

All that came into being exists for Christ — that is, everything exists to display the greatness of Christ. Nothing — nothing! — in the universe exists for its own sake. Everything—from the bottom of the oceans to the top of the mountains, from the smallest particle to the biggest star, from the most boring school subject to the most fascinating science, from the ugliest cockroach to the most beautiful human, from the greatest saint to the most wicked genocidal dictator—everything that exists, exists to make the greatness of Christ more fully known—including you, and the person you have the hardest time liking.

We exist to make the greatness of Christ more fully known. We exist to bring glory to His name as His image bearers! We exist to glorify Christ so that the Father is glorified ever more. That is why we have been redeemed! We cannot forsake the very mission we have been called out of the muck to do.

If we are to bring glory to His name we must in every action, in every thought and in every word, because everything that we do can bring glory to God. And if we are to bring glory to God in everything we do we therefore must bring the most glory to His name, choosing not that which brings little glory, but that which brings magnificent glory. And all glory will be to Him alone, for the crowns we will receive for such glorification of God will not be ours, but Christ’s, for it is God who is at work, and it is God who chose us before the foundations of the earth and it is Christ who has redeemed us, regenerating our hearts and freeing us from total depravity.

Resolution Four.

Resolved, to determine prior to execution how God might be most glorified in every act, in every word and thought, and do that which is determined no matter the cost of one’s self.

Your salvation is secure and the above symptoms may just be a sign of trial, struggle or growth. But it is wise to be cautious. The symptoms may be a sign of a much larger problem. Set aside a day, an hour or two, to contemplate your heart’s state. Do it today, for this moment might be your last, and the next might be rejection.

Resolution Three.

Resolved, to contemplate the state of my heart daily so that I might live confidently in its destiny.

Link to video via Challies.com

Resolution Two.

Resolved, to live as if each moment will be my last, and the next will be at His throne.

To live each moment for the glory of God, which is the first resolution, one is most helped by living with an understanding of the moment. Meaning, if we are to glorify God in all that we do, in every moment of our lives, we must understand and remind ourselves that the moment we are living may be our last, that the sin we may be committing could be our last act on this earth. To live each moment in the understanding of the shortness and unpredictability of life will allow us to fight against our desire to sin and further our desire of God.

Resolution One.

Resolved, to live every moment for the glory of God, never compromising for selfish motives, less risky endeavors, or a passive attitude.

One must first be resolved to do that which glorifies God because every resolution that follows is built upon it, merely explaining in more detail what the first has already stated.

We must be resolved to live every single moment of our lives for the glory of God. We cannot compromise. There is no excuse. There is no try. We must deny our selfish motives and ambitions. We must fight against the ease of life, doing that which is safe. We must fight against laziness, against passivity, for our life is not our own.

There is no joy outside of His glorification, and we must be willing to risk it all for that glory as Christ did on the cross.