Most people think it is a great month of new beginnings, new goals, and new possibilities. For me, January has been a month of fasting, self-evaluation, and regrets. The regrets from the past year come crowding in. They whisper in my ear, “You are a failure. You are not good enough. God doesn’t love you. If he did, then you would have this or that. You will never. . .”

It’s January, and I’m trying to decide my goals for the rest of the year. But my mind is all over the place. “What about this as a goal?...