Sometimes the reason people can’t keep their New Year’s resolutions is because they weren’t really resolutions at all — they were only wishes. If we don’t take practical steps to make our resolutions come true, they never will.

But there is a deeper problem we all face, and that is our inability to do what we know we ought to do. Just as someone with a broken leg can’t compete in a race, so someone with a broken soul can’t live the way they should. And unfortunately, we all have broken souls or spirits — an inner weakness that keeps us from living the way we should. The apostle Paul put it this way: “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out” (Romans 7:18).

What is the problem? The problem is that sin, like a crippling disease, has invaded our lives and weakened our souls. That’s why we need God, for only He can change us from within and give us the strength to live the way we should. And He will, as we open our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ and submit our wills to His will.

Don’t try to live without God. You need Him — and He wants to help you, because He loves you. Don’t let your pride, or anything else, keep you from Christ. He alone gives us hope — hope of a better life right now, and hope for a perfect life with Him in heaven forever.