74: COMMUNITY – RESOLVING TO INSPIRE OTHERS: When we live according to the way we were created to live, according to God’s plans and patterns for our lives, others will be inspired to do the same. They will see us living in rhythm with how we were created to be, and they will rejoice. The psalmist says in verse 74: “May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.”
One of the key reason’s our New Year’s resolutions fail is because we do it in secret. The chances of success go way up when we include a community of like-minded people into the equation. How many of you have tried to form a positive new habit, or to stop a negative old habit, in your life without the aide of others? It’s hard. It’s easy to fall back into old patterns. But
when we have others there encourage us to put our hope in God and to celebrate victories over our problems there is tremendous potential for success. When a person puts their hope in God, others are inspired. If I were to follow after God and do well in my life, then you might rejoice and be inspired to have victory with God’s help over an issue in your own life too. And if you place that kind of hope in the Lord and strive to live according to the way you were created, then I’ll be further encouraged as well. The solution to our resolution problem involves the celebrating community of God’s people.
The Good News is that God surrounds us with accountability. But our resolutions usually fail because we don’t seek out accountability. You can’t stop eating fast food if your whole family keeps pressing you to go to Wendy’s all the time. You can’t quit smoking if nobody in your family is willing to help you. And ultimately it’s hard to continue to put your hope in God’s ways and to address the deeper issues in your life if you are not surrounding yourself in a community of people who fear the Lord. This leads right into the next verse…