T'is the season to be inundated with shopping, wrapping gifts, preparing, planning, and attending Christmas gatherings. However, the clock is ticking. Old Father Times's hour glass is nearly empty. We're days away from 2016. As we commemorate and celebrate the birth of Jesus, the advent season should also be a time of reflection and introspection, a time to take inventory of the year with heartfelt appreciation for the blessings realized throughout the year as well as the difficulties and losses.
A new year is a time of transition, bringing with it the hope of a new beginning. It's a time to reconsider where we have been and set goals to determine where we desire to go. At the stroke of midnight, some believe they will be translated to a life of mirth and bliss. For them the old habits, failures, and regrets will vanish with the change of one digit while others think the magic bullet for a new beginning hinges on making resolutions. The harsh reality is even though we celebrate the onset of a new year, we often retain the negative mindsets, behavior, and toxic relationships we thought mysteriously disappeared at midnight without our soliciting Divine invention or making a personal commitment to change.
However, in order to ring out the old and ring in the new, it is necessary to:
1. Release the past.
"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past . . .
Isaiah 43:18a, New American Standard version
2. Embrace the new by setting realistic and measurable goals.
"Behold I will do something new. Now it will spring forth will you not be aware of it?"
Isaiah 43:18b
Confucius stated centuries ago: "By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which
is the noblest; second by imitation, which is the easiest, and third by
experience, which is the bitterest."
As we approach the end of 2015, I implore you to invest time, before the beginning of 2016, to reflect on your life as it has been and how you desire it to be. Your dreams are within your grasp, for with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26
A new year is a time of transition, bringing with it the hope of a new beginning. It's a time to reconsider where we have been and set goals to determine where we desire to go. At the stroke of midnight, some believe they will be translated to a life of mirth and bliss. For them the old habits, failures, and regrets will vanish with the change of one digit while others think the magic bullet for a new beginning hinges on making resolutions. The harsh reality is even though we celebrate the onset of a new year, we often retain the negative mindsets, behavior, and toxic relationships we thought mysteriously disappeared at midnight without our soliciting Divine invention or making a personal commitment to change.
However, in order to ring out the old and ring in the new, it is necessary to:
1. Release the past.
"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past . . .
Isaiah 43:18a, New American Standard version
2. Embrace the new by setting realistic and measurable goals.
"Behold I will do something new. Now it will spring forth will you not be aware of it?"
Isaiah 43:18b
Confucius stated centuries ago: "By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which
is the noblest; second by imitation, which is the easiest, and third by
experience, which is the bitterest."
As we approach the end of 2015, I implore you to invest time, before the beginning of 2016, to reflect on your life as it has been and how you desire it to be. Your dreams are within your grasp, for with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26