Don’t Judge New Year Newbies at the Gym or in the Church

The New Year marks a lot of hope and restored commitment for many people. We set resolutions. We download diets. We get serious about going to the gym. For some of us, we think about heading back to church.

If you’re a regular attender, at the gym or at a church, it can be easy to sneer at those less devoted folks who miraculously show up shortly after the first of the year. Don’t. You don’t know how far they had to come to get to that elliptical machine. You don’t understand the journey they had to make to get to that back pew.

Whether you’re in the Y or in a worship service, you’re not better than anyone else just because you’ve been there longer. I don’t look into my fridge and assume the best food is the stuff that’s been there for months. Don’t try to press this analogy too far, I know it’s limited. It has an expiration date. You get the point.

You don’t deserve grace more than anyone else, or need it any less. Let’s give the kind of support someone once gave us when we timidly walked into that space with eyes wide opened searching for a little progress and a little hope. Maybe you’ve been there a bit longer so you can welcome others in. Maybe your next step of progress is to turn around and help someone else find their way.

Happy New Year.