Back your new year resolutions with prayers, determination, Clerics urge Nigerians

By Chidinma Ewunonu-Aluko

Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo, Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo, has said that only new year resolutions accompanied by prayers and determination can meet a fulfilling end.

Badejo stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN ) on Wednesday in Ibadan.

According to Badejo, resolutions are good and necessary for every human step in life, adding, however, that they need to be properly understood.

“A resolution is different from a wish, which is a simple desire that does not imply action.

“As it is often said, if wishes were horses, even beggars will ride one. A resolution is a plan; a roadmap to making a wish come true. If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

“New year resolutions should not be joked with, as they are the undertakings of serious-minded people.

“A verse in the Bible even talks about Jesus Christ resolutely turning his face toward Jerusalem where he was to lay down his life. (Luke 9:51),” he said.

The bishop maintained that resolutions were serious business, adding that to get anything worthwhile done, one needed to make a resolution about it.

“Many people in governance and private enterprises in Nigeria dream dreams but some of them will not make any concrete arrangement for action.

“This is largely the bane of our society, but the truth is that a determined or resolute person will be difficult to stop or distract.

“It’s a pity that most people are dreamers and not doers and that’s why it is difficult to achieve their new year resolutions,” Badejo said.

Also, the Bishop, Diocese of Lagos West, Methodist Church Nigeria, Rt. Rev. Oluyinka Akande, noted that Christian perspectives on new year resolutions varied.

Akande stated that many focused on spiritual growth, self-improvement and aligning goals with biblical principles.

According to him, resolutions may involve fostering a deeper relationship with God, practising virtues like kindness and patience or committing to acts of service.

“The idea is to pursue resolutions that align with Christian values and contribute to personal and spiritual development,” he said.

NAN reports that the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, had in his Open Heaven Devotion on Tuesday, enjoined Christians to be focused on their 2024 resolutions.

Adeboye had also urged them to stop suffering in silence, but tell God all their needs in the new year.

“This year, ensure that you do not pretend or form, as the youth will say, before God.

“Tell Him exactly where the shoe hurts, make up your mind like me to ask for His help more than ever before this year and He will surely answer you,” Adeboye said.

Also, the Pastor-in-charge of RCCG, Solution Centre, Ibadan, Mrs Oluronke Esan, urged Christians to always make positive confessions, notwithstanding their new year resolutions.

Esan enjoined them to always strive not to lag behind spiritually in all their endeavours in the new year.

“Be resolute in all your decisions and always confess positively to achieve your goals; never welcome any suggestion from anyone that can hinder you from fulfilling your goals this year.

“There is power in spoken words. So people should be mindful of what they say; it’s good to have plans but pray that no power will silence you this year,” Esan said. (NAN)