Category Archives: New Year’s

We can get caught up in regrets over what we didn’t accomplish in the last year, mistakes we made, or relationships we failed to nurture. Let’s instead use the New Year as a time to reflect on all we have new in Christ Jesus. Then let’s consider how to live out that newness in the New Year, “making the most of every opportunity” (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5).

First Reflect on the New Life We Have in Christ

God encourages us to take off the old and put on the new (Eph. 4:22-32; Col. 3:1-17). Our old way is “corrupted by its deceitful desires” but our new life in Christ is “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” which affects even the “attitude of our minds” (Eph. 4:22-24). What kind of difference will it make going forward if we truly live in the newness of life Jesus came to give us? Begin by reflecting on that new life.

Check out the Holiday Reflections Discipleship Guides which includes 14 different holidays. It looks at what we have new in Christ with Scripture to back it up and questions to reflect on how it should affect us going into a new year.

Also read: What We Have New in Christ Jesus

New Life in Christ for New Opportunities in the New Year

Let’s be real: Living in accordance with our new life in Christ won’t change everything around us. But it will change us and enable us to use whatever comes our ways as opportunities to be salt and light (Matt. 5:13-16).

Our circumstances might not change, but our perspective toward life will change as we see through new eyes. — We have faith.

The world might seem to keep getting worse, but our reactions toward it will change as we understand with a new mind. — We have hope.

People around us might not change, but our attitude toward them will change as we respond with a new heart. — We have love.

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:12-13)

People often make resolutions at the end of a year for the upcoming new year. God does want us to examine our lives (Ps. 139:23). He also wants us to grow (2 Pet. 3:18) and become more effective and productive (2 Pet. 1:3-8). We must ask, however, if resolutions are the way to seek improvement. What about prayer?

The Path to Growth and Effectiveness In the New Year Takes Prayer

For followers of Jesus Christ, how we get somewhere matters. New Year resolutions tend to fall short.

1) Resolutions tend to grow out of self-assessment rather than asking God to examine our lives. (Ps. 139:23-24; Prov. 3:5-6)

2) We tend to pursue resolutions with self-determination and self-effort rather than trusting God to work in and through us. (Jn. 15:5; Phil. 4:13)

Ask God to Search Your Heart to Reveal Where Change is Needed

As you look back over the past year, you might pray similar to the psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” (Ps. 139:23) Then ask Him to show you what He might want you to do differently in the upcoming year. — “See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Ps. 139:24)

You might ask questions like the following:

• How has my life affected people in my sphere of influence? Did I bless and build up people or criticize and tear them down?

• What did I use to guide me in serving and making everyday decisions? Did I look to God and His Word for direction or lean on my own understanding or the ways of the world?

• How did I deal with problems, conflicts, or mistakes made by others or myself? Did I apply grace and truth or did I merely react?

• What have I done to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and in ministry effectiveness? Did I grab hold of the resources and growth opportunities God put before me rather than merely coast through life?

Perhaps the answers to the above questions weren’t as you’d hoped, or at least not consistently so. Good news: You have a new year ahead of you to trust God to help you change those answers. Of course, God could take you home to be with Him or Jesus could come first. While those aren’t bad options, why not ask Him to work in and through you in the meantime, so your life makes a difference now?

Looking for more?

• Resources for the New Year Holiday
• Teaching for the Beginning of a New Year