by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Improving one’s relationship with God ranked near the bottom of the list of this year’s most common New Year’s resolutions, with most promises centering on self-improvement.
The Barna Group is reporting that a nationwide poll of 1,022 adults found that the top pledges for 2011 are almost entirely self-centered with improving one’s relationship with God and others ranking low on the least. The top pledges include diet and health (30%); money, debt and finances (15%); personal improvement (13%); addiction (12%); job and career (5%); spiritual or church-related (5%); and educational (4%). Personal improvement responses included being a better person; giving more; having more personal or leisure time; organizing their life or home; and having a better life in general.
David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, explained these findings: “Only 9 out of more than 1,000 survey respondents – that’s not quite one percent – mentioned that one of their objectives for next year was getting closer to God in some way. Even in the rare instance when people mention spiritual goals, it is often about activity undertaken for God, rather than a personal pursuit of God or an experience with God.”
Overall, the report found that only one out of every five (19%) adults is “definitely” planning to make resolutions, which may be attributed to recognition of past failures to fulfill these promises.
“When asked to describe their experience with resolutions during 2010, only one out of four Americans (23%) who had made resolutions found those commitments resulted in’“significant, long-term change’ to their behaviors or attitudes,” the report states. “More commonly, Americans described their 2010 resolutions as resulting in ‘minor change’ (29%) or ‘no change’ (49%).
Kinnaman put the findings in context: “Americans maintain a love-hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions: millions of people make them, but they rarely report success as a result. This research underscores that most humans want to experience some sort of personal change in their lives, but achieving such objectives is both difficult and uncommon.
“Maybe most problematic, Americans hinge their efforts at personal change by focusing almost exclusively on themselves, rather than realizing that lasting change often comes by serving and sacrificing for others. Churches and faith communities have a significant opportunity to help people identify what makes for transformational change and how to best achieve those objectives – especially by relying on goals and resources beyond their individualism.”
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