Good Morning! Welcome to Mercy Fellowship where we are Saved by Jesus Work, Changed by Jesus’ Grace,

and Living on Jesus’s Mission. As we begin the new year, let’s talk about where desire meets discipline.

We are not a satisfied people. We show this at the conclusion of one year and the beginning of the next we

intuitively assess aspects of our lives and find areas we want to see change in or achievements made. These

are sometimes very specific ie: run a marathon, get out of debt, etc and relatively easy to see progress,

achieve our goal, or admit defeat. Other times we set vague ethereal goals like “laugh more” be a “better”

spouse, parent, friend, or employee with no real understanding of what this will look like or how we should

get there. We know we’re not the best version of ourselves. We want more. We want to be different that

we currently are. Therefore, each year we make resolutions grow our budget or to shrink our beltline. Each

year we inevitably fail (again!!) and wonder why our wallet is lighter and we are not. We shrink back into

our habits, make excuses, and for a time accept our “normal” being less that flourishing until another new

year or catalytic event wakes us from our slumber. We again go through a cycle of great effort followed

by less discipline. Why do we fail to achieve what we want?