I love New Year’s resolutions. I love to make goals and set new habits. I’m that guy. Usually, my New Year’s resolutions involve something to do with health and fitness as well as professional growth.

This year, my goals are to

• take a daily cold plunge.
• eat a carnivore diet.
• do a CrossFit workout five days a week.
• write 500 to 1,000 words per day in my book.

After reading my goals, you’ll notice they all have one thing in common. They are about me and my personal growth. They are all about what I want to accomplish for myself.

Pastor Mike’s sermon on Time of Grace this week (“Reset: To Discover Your Purpose”) challenged me to adjust my goals. Instead of only pursuing personal growth, Pastor Mike encouraged his listeners to set goals that follow Jesus’ final command to his people.

At the end of the Bible book of Matthew, Jesus left his followers with this Great Commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19,20).

In other words, Jesus has a New Year’s resolution for you and me: to go to people outside our normal context and introduce them to Jesus. For those first Jewish apostles, that meant going to other nationalities, like Romans and Greeks. For you, that might mean starting a friendship with someone who votes differently than you, looks differently than you, or acts differently than you.

At first, this might seem like an overwhelming objective. But like most goals, if you break it down to a more manageable idea, you might start to see some traction.

For example, what if you made it your goal this year to connect with one new person? One neighbor, one coworker, or one acquaintance outside the Christian faith.

This person would not be your project but the subject of your prayers. They would not be a person to fix but the object of your concern and love. Maybe you share with them the bread you just baked or offer to walk their dog when they leave town. These interactions will eventually lead to a conversation about deeper things like ultimate meaning and purpose, faith, and forgiveness. And through this process, God will get you outside of yourself so that you learn to love others as you love yourself.