Every January we hear the same refrain: New Year’s resolutions don’t last. By the third week, motivation fades, habits creep back in, and we quietly conclude that the whole exercise was naïve. But perhaps the problem isn’t failure, it’s how we understand it.

The biblical worldview has always treated time differently than the surrounding cultures. As historian Thomas Cahill points out in The Gifts of the Jews, ancient pagan societies largely viewed life as circular: seasons repeat, mistakes repeat, and nothing truly moves forward. In that kind of world, change is mostly an illusion.

Scripture tells a different story. Biblical faith understands life as linear: a journey moving somewhere. God acts in history, makes promises, and calls people to respond, not perfectly, but faithfully. Choices matter because they shape what comes next, even when those choices are followed by failure.

This is why the idea of a New Year’s resolution, stripped of modern cynicism, is actually rooted in moral virtue. We may not achieve complete mastery over ourselves, but we can choose to acknowledge responsibility. It is to say, I can choose the good today, even if I stumble tomorrow. Repentance itself is often fraught with repeated failure. But we try again. Two steps forward and one step back is still progress moving forward.

So perhaps January resolutions are not about proving discipline or predicting success. They are small declarations of hope—acts of faith that tomorrow is not locked into yesterday. In a linear world, progress doesn’t assume perfection, only direction. And choosing a lifelong path of repentance doesn’t require that we wait for January 1^st to make our declarations of change. Today, and every day, is the first day of the rest of your life.

If you’d like to learn more about breaking free from the circular mind and embracing the linear path of life-changing course corrections, request the free study guide entitled “Transforming Your Life: The Process of Conversion” available on the United Church of God website.

By Lynn Leiby