Resolutions, First Draft

Based on the Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards

Undestanding that I am incapable of doing anything without the aid of God, I plead by His mercy that He might help me keep these resolutions, should they be agreeable to his will, for the glory of His name.

1. Resolved, to live with all my might for the glory of God, to order my steps to walk as Jesus would have walked, to act in such a way as displays the light of Christ that has redeemed my soul from death, to labor that others might know the riches of his mercy and grace, and to continually venture to explore ways to promote the aforementioned things.

2. Resolved, to examine myself to see whether I have neglected any part of the above resolution at the end of every week, month, and year, and to entreat upon the mercies of God in repentance of all that I have neglected.

3. Resolved, to think often of the great promise of heaven and its joy, knowing how lacking my mind is to comprehend its treasures, and often of hell, that it might inspire within me great compassion for my fellow man, to pray for them and plead them with all my might to turn from their sin and cast themselves upon Christ, and that it would remind me of the depths of my sin, what I deserve, and cause me more and more to loathe the sin within me in order to root it out.

4. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God (Edwards, Resolution #8).

5. Resolved, that I should live in all aspects as I should wish I had done at the hour of death, and to never do anything that I would be afraid to do at the hour of death or at the return of Christ.

6. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same (Edwards, Resolution #28).

7. Resolved, to pray with an urgency and passion as though prayer were my foremost labor in this life and the primary means by which God conformed my will unto His own: to beg of the Lord to spare sinners from hell and to destroy the sin within me and to praise and thank Him for His greatness and goodness.

8. Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this, all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness, of which I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance (Edwards, Resolution # 65), and to lay bare my soul and sin before my fellow man for their edification and to ask for their prayers.

9. Resolved, to fight against the sin that lives within me with every breath, no matter how unsuccessful I may be in the fight, and to trust that Christ, the Good Shepherd, will lead me to Himself, that He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it.

10. Resolved, to simply speak the truth in all matters, excepting in the preservation of life, liberty, or happiness to be taken unjustly.

11. Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer (Edwards, Resolution #53).

12. Resolved, to imitate that which I admire in others and to avoid imitating that which is less than praiseworthy.

13. Resolved, to live in such a way that possessions were of no consequence of me, but the state of others' souls were of infinite importance; to live in such a way as that I have no more than what I need when I die and that I have labored to my utmost to see that others enter into the Kingdom of God upon their deaths.

14. Resolved, to be unashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation for all who believe.