New Beginning

There is something about this time of the year that makes one feel like it is a new beginning!

As challenging as this past year has been (and 2020 had its challenges!) in the closing of the year, we anticipate a fresh new start. With January half over, it is still almost magical to envision doing better, being better and feeling better. Whatever mistakes, failures or mishaps that linger in your mind, they are all in the past, let them go and look forward to all that lies ahead.

22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.

23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

- Ephesians 4:22-24

The point of a new beginning isn't to get lost in the little things: shall I lose 10 lbs, read more often, or have dessert only on the weekends? Making healthy changes is of course beneficial but, if not maintained, can make a person focus on how they have failed and lose sight of who God is in their disappointment.

Change that happens from the inside out, letting the Spirit renew your heart, creates true change and the opportunity for a new beginning.

Christians hear this "heart change" spoken about frequently and yet often we focus on the exterior and lose sight of the power of walking, loving and living in the Spirit.

Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

- Galatians 5:25

In my own life, I have faced many a New Year with a vow to change something that I felt would help create that "new beginning" feel. I would make a list of resolutions only to watch them fade away. My heart wasn't in the temporary changes I thought I needed to achieve for a new beginning. The world wants you to rest your "new beginning" on those temporary changes, but God knows that only real change can happen from the inside out with Jesus at the center.

As we bid 2020 farewell and embrace the New Year, may your new beginning be Spirit led and Spirit filled!

Pastor Heidi

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