A Christian New Year's resolution isn't about becoming a better version of yourself by willpower. It's about making room: for prayer, for scripture, for the people God has put around you. "His compassions fail not. They are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22 to 23, KJV). A new year is a good moment to remember that.
Below are 15 Christian New Year's resolutions for 2027, grouped by theme, and a simple way to keep them: not alone, but with a prayer partner or a small group.
Why keep resolutions with someone else
Scripture keeps coming back to this. "Two are better than one... For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow" (Ecclesiastes 4:9 to 10). "As iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend" (Proverbs 27:17). Hebrews tells us to "consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works" (Hebrews 10:24).
Research points the same way. In a 1999 study by Wing and Jeffery, people who joined a program with friends were far more likely to finish it (95%) than people who joined alone (76%). We are made for community, and our habits are too.
Christian New Year's resolutions: scripture
1. Read one chapter of Proverbs a day in January. Proverbs has 31 chapters, one for each day of the month. It's the easiest way to start a Christian New Year with scripture.
2. Read through a Gospel in a month. Mark has 16 chapters. At one chapter a day you finish in just over two weeks, or take it slower and finish by January 31.
3. Follow a Bible-in-a-year plan with a friend. Read the same passage each day, then send each other one verse that stood out.
4. Memorize one verse a week. Write it on a card, keep it by the sink or in your pocket, and recite it to your prayer partner on Sunday.
Prayer
5. Pray for ten minutes before you check your phone. Leave the phone in another room overnight. The first ten minutes of the day go to God.
6. Keep a prayer list, and pray through it daily. Write down names and needs. Mark the answers when they come. Looking back at the list in December is one of the most encouraging things you can do.
7. Pray daily for one person who doesn't know Jesus. Then look for one way each month to show them kindness.
8. Join your church's January fast. Many churches start the year with 21 days of prayer and fasting. Our guide to the 21-day Daniel Fast for groups explains how to do it together.
Rest and worship
9. Keep a Sabbath rhythm. One day a week with no work email, no errands that can wait, and time for worship, rest and family.
10. Be at church every Sunday. It sounds basic, but consistency matters. Arrive ten minutes early and greet someone you don't know.
11. Practice gratitude daily. Write down three things you're thankful for each evening. "In every thing give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Serving and generosity
12. Serve once a month. At church, a food bank, a shelter or for a neighbor. Put the dates in your calendar now.
13. Give regularly and plan it. Decide in January what you'll give this year, and set it up so it happens without needing a decision each month.
14. Encourage one person a day. A text, a note, a phone call. Small, specific, and easy to forget unless you make it a habit.
Body and soul
15. Care for your body as a gift. A daily walk, an earlier bedtime, less screen time at night. "Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost" (1 Corinthians 6:19). Pair it with prayer: a prayer walk does both.
How to keep them with a prayer partner
Most New Year's resolutions stall in the second week of January. Strava's data even gave that moment a name: Quitter's Day, the second Friday of January (January 8 in 2027). Here's how to get past it together.
- Choose one resolution, not five. Start with one. When it's steady, add another. A small habit kept is better than a big one dropped.
- Pick a prayer partner before New Year. A friend, your spouse, someone from your small group. Ask them in December. In Daily Pact you can invite them by name, and if they haven't joined yet, a nudge reminds them without you having to ask twice.
- Make it specific. "Read more of the Bible" is a wish. "One chapter of Proverbs before breakfast" is a plan.
- Check in every day. A short message, or one tap, is enough: "Read Proverbs 6, prayed for you." It keeps the habit visible and turns it into something you share.
- Pray for each other's resolutions. Not just "did you do it?" but "how can I pray for you this week?"
- Show grace on missed days. Missing a day is not failure. In a well-known habit study, Lally and colleagues (2010) found missing a single day didn't meaningfully set people back. Pick it up again tomorrow.
A group chat works for this. So does Daily Pact, which is built for exactly this kind of shared habit: you and your prayer partner (or your whole small group) choose one daily habit, each of you checks in with one tap, and you see who has shown up today. Nobody has to write or post anything, which suits resolutions that are mostly between you and God.
Daily Pact's January campaign, the January Pact, is the same idea: one small habit, one friend, every day of January 2027.
Small groups and the Christian New Year
A small group can choose one shared resolution for January: the same reading plan, the same prayer focus, or a fast together. Each person pairs with a prayer partner inside the group, and the group meets weekly to share what God has been doing. It gives the whole group a common thread to start the year.
If you lead the group, you can set this up in Daily Pact in a few minutes: start a group pact, invite everyone with one link in the small group chat, and decide who pays. A church or small group leader can cover everyone with a Group plan (bought in the app, from $9.99 a month for up to 15 people), so members join free. See Daily Pact for groups.
For more ideas beyond faith goals, see our New Year's resolution ideas and the hub on goals for the new year.
FAQ
What are good Christian New Year's resolutions? Simple, daily habits that make room for God: reading a chapter of scripture, praying before you check your phone, keeping a Sabbath, serving monthly and encouraging someone every day.
Is it biblical to make New Year's resolutions? The Bible doesn't mention New Year's resolutions, but it does encourage examining our ways, setting our hearts on God and building good habits. "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established" (Proverbs 16:3).
How do I keep my Christian New Year's resolutions? Pick one, make it specific, and do it with a prayer partner who checks in with you every day. Expect to miss a day, and pick it up again without guilt.
What is a Christian New Year's tradition? Many churches hold a watch night service on New Year's Eve and begin January with 21 days of prayer and fasting, often a Daniel Fast.
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