"I resolve that in 1998 I will...? What will you do? What will you really do? Will you stop late night eating binges, fast driving, smoking, drinking, arriving late, leaving early, taking the company pens home, cheating on your taxes, spending too much on junk? Ah, the choices! Too many choices. All are good, but which one is the greatest? Which one will set you up to be a better person by the end of the year?

I have made a list of a few things you and I can do that will make you and me the Best Husband, Employee of the Year, Top Dad, Greatest Friend, Dependable Neighbor, Model Citizen, and even TIME Magazine's "Man of the Year." Really! Read on, I DARE YOU!

I RESOLVE TO...

1. Put Jesus Christ first in my life -- This means, each day, I will communicate with Him through prayer and reading His word. It means, before I make plans for others and other things, I will make time for Jesus.

2. Put my wife's needs before mine -- Each day, I need to spend 15 minutes LISTENING TO HER! Just 15 minutes a day will help me understand what she needs from me, so that we get to the heart of an issue. I also need to let her know what this 15 minutes is for. It's NOT for a gripe session. No nagging allowed; just answering the question, "What are you needing from me today?"

3. Teach my children what I am learning from God -- Kids love to learn from fathers more than anyone else in the world. It is a proven fact! The greatest lessons I ever learned from my Dad was when he blew it, we all knew it, and he told us about it honestly. Kids need to see that Dad is not always right, so they can see how we resolve the issue. If they see us running to God to find the answer, their confidence will grow in God AND in us. When a father can admit wrong and then show a clear pathe to what is right, children grow up feeling safe, secure, and condifent!

4. Share with others the love of God -- The world is hurting. Your best friends that are abusing their wives, cheating the system, neglecting their children, drinking too much, and not puting in an honest day's work, are doing so because they don't know the love of God. If you know it, but don't show it, they know you're not showing it and they hate you for it. They will never trust you completely, you'll never be really in, and when the chips fall, YOU get the blame.

They want God's love. They need God's love. Even when they refuse God's love, they are really saying, "It's so good, it couldn't be for me." Don't let your friends know another year of living hell. Share with them. Love them with the love of God. You have nothing to lose, because if you don't, you have really lost them anyway.

These four things will catapult you to the top. You will soar like an eagle. You will reach new heights. You will do it with a multitude of folks that want you to go higher because you are lifting them to these lofty mountain tops where they could never have gone without you going there first!

Climb On!

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It's not easy to...

apologize

begin over

be unselfish

take advice

admit error

face a sneer

be charitable

keep on trying

be considerate

avoid mistakes

endure success

profit by mistakes

forgive and forget

think and then act

keep out of the rut

make the best of little

subdue an unruly temper

maintain a high standard

shoulder a deserved blame

recognize the silver lining

...but it always pays. TRY IT.