New Beginnings

By Pam Nettles, LPC

As a new year and a new decade begin many people find themselves reflecting on the past and contemplating the direction for their future. Many people will develop resolutions for such things as losing weight, saving money, exercising more, eating healthier, being more spiritual, etc. Most people fail to keep their resolutions for a few simple reasons including that they establish unrealistic goals, the lack of accountability, or establishing goals that lack greater purpose. After only a week into the year there are some people that have already given up on their resolutions. Others are so discouraged by their past mistakes that they feel hopeless; that they will never be able to make changes. The Bible offers a refreshing view on new beginnings.


The Bible has many stories of people who started out with good intentions and then ‘lost their way’ or made poor decisions leading them to discouragement, frustration, sin and its consequences, and/or shame. The Bible also offers many verses and promises to provide us with encouragement and hope.


Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland”. (Isaiah 43:18-19, New International Version)


For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity”. (Jeremiah 29:11-13, NIV)


I remember my afflictions and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness”. (Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV)


Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”. (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)


Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”. (Psalm 51:10-12, NIV)


You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”. (Ephesians 4:22-24, NIV)


I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh”. (Ezekiel 11:19, NIV)


Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; tho ugh they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool”. (Isaiah 1:18, NIV)


Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2, NIV)


While the beginning of a new year is a good time for reflection and making decisions for change, God’s grace and restoration is available not only at New Year’s, but each and every day (or moment of the day), regardless of the time of year. If you are struggling or discouraged, feeling regret or shame, You are encouraged to focus on God’s plan for your life this year, daily, one day at a time. This is possible by reading His word, realigning your thoughts to be consistent with biblical truths, praying, worshipping, and by joining other believers in fellowship. Adjusting our thoughts to align with His thoughts/ways/plans is transformational because as we change our thinking, our behaviors and feelings change as well. Finally, we don’t have to make changes (and often can’t) in our own power, but with the power and strength Christ appropriates to each of us. (Phil. 4:13, NIV)


Pam Nettles, LPC
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