Resolved
Resolved: 10 Ways to Stand Strong and Live What You Believe
By: Lina Abujamra
“The only way to stay strong in a shifting culture is to resolve to know God and live by His truth.”
Abujamra begins her book with this observation: “There is a deep disconnect between what Christians say we believe and how we live, and it’s threatening to destroy us.”
I immediately thought of the book The Christian Atheist. Both of these books challenge the outworking of our faith. Do we really believe what we say we believe? And do our choices and behaviors align with and portray these beliefs?
Both books are worth reading because they pinpoint different areas and encourage in different ways.
Resolved has a more confident tone, bolstering us to stand firm against a culture of relativity and me-centeredness. What can seem harmless or even peace-making might actually be undermining our resolve to be in the world but not of it.
“No matter how strong we claim our faith in God is, when life is hard it all comes down to resolve.”
Though they are not earth-shattering or new, here are the resolutions she proposes:
Believe When It Looks Ridiculous
Love When It’s Inconvenient
Obey When It’s Not Popular
Yield When It’s My Right
Speak Up When It’s Easier Not To
Give When I Barely Have Enough
Be in Community When I’d Rather Be Alone
Have Joy When Life is Depressing
Hope When It Hurts Too Much
Rest in the Midst of Chaos
To be clear. This is not a list of behavior modifications so you can know that you are a Christian. That is anti-gospel. And to counter that feeling, The Imperfect Disciple is a good book to read alongside this one to remind us of the finished work of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For we know that it is not by works or just doing enough or being good enough that we are saved. Our salvation is by grace through faith and the process by which we become more like our Savior (sanctification) is tethered to the Holy Spirit at work in us.
She reminds us, “it is His Spirit in us who is the catalyst for our transformation.”
Abujamra is not suggesting here that we can ‘resolve’ to save ourselves. But the Bible is clear that there is an element of human responsibility in our faith. These resolutions help us set our minds on biblical principles. They help us make decisions and give us confidence in a world where the truths of the Bible appear as foolishness to those who do not believe.
If we believe in God’s provision and faithfulness to us, if we believe that God is all we need, then we can cheerfully give away our time, money, and resources. We can find our joy in him when we experience loss and pain. We can trust him in obedience that puts us at risk.
If we believe that God’s Words are truth then we would cling to them before any other maxim, and we would share them for the sake of others. We wouldn’t allow ridicule or unpopularity to taint our faith with a seeking after horizontal justification and acceptance instead of vertical justification and acceptance.
Here are some of the convictions and comforts Abujamra confronts us with in this book:
“When you get to the place where your dream controls your level of joy, that dream has become your idol.”
“We become afraid to give too much, worried about the ramifications of self-sacrifice…”
“Too many of us use grace as a crutch to get away with disobedience.”
“Yielding moves from the driver's seat to the passenger seat and refuses to be a backseat driver. Yielding is powerful because it elevates God to his rightful place of worship. Yielding to God is a declaration that I am not God, but I trust God with what’s best for me.”
“When we resolve to obey God, we’re declaring to a watching world that God matters most, that this God we’ve given our lives to will come through for us, and that He is good and in control no matter how bad the circumstances in our lives may seem.”
“In choosing the safety of silence, we have condemned many to a life apart from God’s goodness and grace.”
“The strength of your resolve has less to do with the outcome of the matter and everything to do with the One you’re committed to.”
“Sin is getting what I want, when I want it, in the way I want it without considering what God wants and trusting him for it. When that happens, our hearts become restless and we stop being quiet. Our hearts become chaotic.”
“The world is not impressed with people who claim that God is more than enough, that Jesus is all we need, and that we’re living for eternity when our day-to-day lifestyles reflect an unusual attachment to the things of this world.”
“Whether it’s natural disasters or life-ending diseases, violence at the hand of evil or global injustice, our pain is real and it’s deep. Life is hard. The pain we feel is acute, and it spares no one in this world. What makes the Christian life radical isn’t that we escape pain but that we can rise above it through Christ and the strength He gives us.”
I would recommend this book to all Christians, but particularly believers who need a condensed and concrete list of practices to meditate on— what living out our faith might look like in our culture. [One might also check out Christians in a Cancel Culture or peruse some of the other Christian Living books via the buttons below for other related books.]
We’re not quite to New Year’s resolutions, but I could see this being a good ‘beginning of the year’ book with resolutions that matter more than weight loss and bucket lists and would keep a God-centered focus without the distraction of achieving or failing.
I, personally, read this book with a couple friends. Over the course of several weeks we discussed a chapter or two at a time. It spurred really good conversation and would make a good Bible study/book club type of book.
I think having resolve for these things is biblical and worthy of our time. But the most important and comforting thing about it all is this:
“It’s never the size of your resolve but the size of your God that makes the difference in your victory.”
And our God is pretty big.
Set your resolve on Him and His Word and be free.
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