Beyond Resolutions: Choosing Virtue in the New Year

Every new year arrives with a familiar invitation: make a resolution. Eat better. Exercise more. Pray more. Scroll less. While these resolutions are often good in themselves, they are also notoriously fragile. By February, many have already faded. Not because the goals were bad, but because they were incomplete.

Resolutions focus on behaviors. Virtue focuses on who you are becoming.

The Christian life is not merely about accomplishing a checklist of self-improvements. It is about the slow, grace filled formation of the heart. Virtue shapes our desires, our habits, and ultimately our loves. As Aristotle famously noted, we become what we repeatedly do. The Church takes this truth and places it within the supernatural horizon: virtue disposes us to live freely in accordance with God’s will.

As we enter a new year, the question is not simply What do I want to do differently? but rather, Who is God inviting me to become?

Below is an invitation to reflect on several key virtues. Rather than resolving to “try harder,” consider prayerfully choosing one or two virtues to intentionally cultivate this year, trusting that God supplies the grace as you supply your cooperation.

The Cardinal Virtues

Temperance

Temperance is the virtue that moderates attraction to pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures that our desires remain ordered toward the good (CCC 1809). Temperance teaches us how to say “enough,” freeing us from slavery to excess and impulse so we can enjoy God’s gifts rightly.

Fortitude

Fortitude ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good (CCC 1808). It strengthens the will to persevere through suffering, fear, or discouragement. Fortitude is not bravado, but quiet endurance rooted in trust that God is at work even when the road is hard.

Prudence

Prudence is “right reason in action” (CCC 1806). It allows us to discern our true good in every circumstance and choose the proper means to achieve it. Prudence is not hesitation or fear, but wise attentiveness to reality, grace, and timing.

Justice

Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor (CCC 1807). It governs our relationships, calling us to honesty, responsibility, and fidelity in how we live and serve others.

The Theological Virtues

Faith

Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and all that He has revealed, trusting not because we see, but because God is Truth itself (CCC 1814). Faith shapes how we interpret reality, anchoring our lives in God’s promises rather than our feelings.

Hope

Hope is the virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life, placing our trust in Christ’s promises rather than our own strength (CCC 1817). Hope guards against discouragement and despair, reminding us that God is not finished with us.

Love (Charity)

Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God (CCC 1822). St. Paul reminds us that without love, all other efforts are empty (1 Corinthians 13). Charity is the soul of every virtue.

Additional Virtues for Daily Christian Living

Sobriety

Sobriety is closely related to temperance and refers to clarity of mind and freedom from intoxication, both literal and spiritual. St. Peter exhorts, “Be sober and watchful” (1 Peter 5:8). Sobriety cultivates vigilance, self-possession, and readiness for spiritual battle.

Chastity

Chastity integrates sexuality within the whole person, uniting body and soul in authentic self-gift (CCC 2337). According to one’s state in life, chastity teaches rightly ordered love and reverence for the dignity of oneself and others.

Meekness

Meekness is not weakness, but strength under control. Christ describes Himself as “meek and humble of heart” (Matthew 11:29). Meekness restrains anger and pride, allowing charity and truth to guide our responses rather than ego or impulse.

Magnanimity

Magnanimity, or greatness of soul, disposes a person to pursue great things worthy of honor in accordance with God’s will. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that magnanimity prevents both despair and mediocrity by calling us to embrace the mission God has given us with confidence and humility (Summa Theologiae, II-II, q.129).

Perseverance

Perseverance is the virtue that enables us to remain faithful to the good over time, especially when progress feels slow or unseen. “He who perseveres to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Perseverance sanctifies ordinary faithfulness.

Choosing Virtue This Year

Unlike resolutions, virtue is not achieved through sheer willpower. It is cultivated through grace, repetition, prayer, and sacramental life. Virtue grows quietly, often imperceptibly, but its fruit is lasting freedom and peace.

As you enter this new year, consider taking time in prayer to ask:

• Which virtue do I most need right now?

• Where is God inviting deeper trust or surrender?

• What small, concrete practices can support this growth?

Growth in virtue does not promise immediate results, but it promises something far greater: transformation.

May this year not simply be about doing more, but about becoming more fully who God has created you to be.