Vol. 20 No. 01 | January 1, 2018
It’s Time to Create the Life We Desire
We have been waiting for this day for weeks, and it’s finally here. The past year has been so difficult and we are ready for a new start. We watch as the ball makes its decent, counting down to zero and declare, “Happy New Year!”
Now what?
Now that we have an opportunity to put the past year behind us and start over, what are we going to do with it? Now that we are able to put those mistakes, failures, illnesses, losses, and bad decisions behind us, how are we going to make sure the new year will be better than the last one?
We will make other mistakes and will probably experience a few failures in the coming year. We, or someone close to us, may have an illness and we may lose someone close to us. There’s a possibility that we will make more bad decisions. But now we have the opportunity to make new and better choices.
Make the most of the opportunities when they come.
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:5,6, NIV)
When we encounter a person who is outside the faith community, we must be wise in how we treat them. We have to take advantage of those opportunities and use language that is filled with grace. Being kind and graceful doesn’t cost us a thing, so we need to use each opportunity to display the spirit of Christ.
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 heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13,14, NIV)
Forget the past and move on.
We want to forget the past year, so we have to put it behind us. We messed up. We must accept it. Learn from it. Move on. We failed to accomplish all we wanted to accomplish? Me must let it go and move on. We accomplished some great things? We should celebrate them and move on. We had a great year? We should celebrate it and move forward to even greater things.
Encourage people.
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13, NIV)
We must look for opportunities and ways to encourage others every day. If we missed an opportunity yesterday, we must encourage someone today; we may not have tomorrow.
Here we are at the end of one year and the beginning of another. Now is our opportunity to do things differently and carve out the life we desire.
Tom
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