A Fresh Start

A Fresh Start

Thoughts of making a fresh start come easily at the beginning of a new year, but the truth is that God allows us to start fresh every single day.

God doesn’t want us to wallow in regret and guilt. Yes, we should sincerely acknowledge our sins and correct our bad behavior. But we shouldn’t allow past screw-ups to prevent us from moving forward in God’s work. To wallow in guilt is to reject the mercy so hard won for us by Jesus Christ on the cross. It’s also a way of focusing on our own weakness rather than God’s goodness and strength.

“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires,” writes Paul in Romans 8:1 (NIV).

Paul knew plenty about remorse. Before his conversion to Christianity, his daily life involved persecuting and killing Christians, as he details in Acts 22. But he also understood the importance of looking forward, not backward.

“… But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me …” he writes in Philippians 3:13-15. “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.”

When we’re caught up in our own shame, we turn inward. We try to hide from God, just as Adam and Eve did in the garden (Genesis 3:8). But when we accept God’s grace and mercy, we free ourselves to move closer to God; we’re then better able to listen to God and reach out to those who need God’s love.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage,” Paul admonishes the early Christians of Galatia, (Galatians 5:1, KJV.)

A new year is a great time to clean house in our hearts and move forward in absolute freedom. It’s a time to recall that God’s love for us is unconditional because of Christ’s goodness, not our own. Only then will we be ready to say, without hesitation, as Isaiah did, “Here I am, Lord, send me!” ❚

(Janine Pumilia)