by Dennis Gladden, By Green Pastures, ©2025
(Dec. 28, 2025) — Two words can crush the human spirit.
Always and never.
“You always…”
“You never…”
And they undermine the Gospel.
“You always… You will never change!”
The prophet Jeremiah encountered them. The Apostle Paul bristled at them. They haunt us every New Year’s.
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The stubborn mocked Jeremiah.
God told Jeremiah to warn the Israelites about an impending disaster and to plead:
“Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”
They shrugged. Been there, tried that.
“That is hopeless!” they answered. “So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart.”1
We will never change. We always...
Paul bristled at the slur, “They always…”
Paul left one of his young disciples, Titus, on the island of Crete to set things among the believers in order. The disorder harbored a persistent slur:
“Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”2
Paul insisted that followers of Jesus aren’t what they had been.
We ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another….
But the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, … and those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.3
Paul gave Titus a mission. Silence the slurs. Stop the subversion. Prove the power of the Gospel.
People can change.
In Jesus, the hopelessness ends. You always and you never have no say in Christ.
Resolutions mock. Repentance heals.
How do we dispel these ghosts of futility?
Resolutions are the go-to. We make them at New Year’s. We regulate diet and behavior. Gurus pump out “how-to” guides relentlessly.
How effective are these?
Check back in a few weeks and let me know how you’re doing.
Paul affirms, “Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (emphasis mine).4
Here’s the alternative.
Repent.
Literally, change your mind, reverse direction.
Resolutions put the burden to change on you.
Repentance puts the burden on Christ.
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me. … For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”5
Jesus began His ministry with this message: “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”6
Most refused, and toward the end of His ministry, Jesus “began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent” (emphasis mine).7
As someone who has taken Jesus at His word, I can tell you His way works. He makes the necessary changes.
It can be as simple—and radical—as Peter’s three-word prayer when a storm overwhelmed him, “Lord, save me!” Jesus did.
Resolve, or repent.
Rely on yourself, or believe God will do what He says.
One works; the other doesn’t.
Which will you do this New Year’s?
See notes, references, and comments here.