As the Christmas season is coming to a close, this is the time of year we begin to look forward to the new year. People everywhere are making their resolutions for what they will do or change in the upcoming year. While everyone else seems to be looking forward, I’m looking back. I can’t go into the new year with plans and hopes if I don’t take time to look back at where I’ve been and what I’ve come through.
How can I appreciate where I’m going if I never learn from where I’ve been?
I’m looking back on 2021 and taking note of where I succeeded and where I failed. What could I have done better? Where can I improve? What can I be proud of and what should I shy away from in 2022? The worst mistake I can make going into the new year is not learning from my mistakes in the old year. My mistakes offer me opportunities to learn and grow. Walking blindly into my future without taking advantage of that growth opportunity would be dire on my part. If I don’t learn from my mistake at first, I will find myself in a rut of continually making the same mistake. I want to avoid as many mistakes as possible in 2022. I’m taking note of my past mistakes, and I’m taking my growth with me.
What did I start in 2021 that I should finish in the upcoming year?
When I look back at the past year, I know that I will find some things that I started but never finished. I have some good intentions and plans that I never fulfilled. God has placed some desires in my heart that I haven’t brought to fruition yet, and I want to see those desires become a reality. If I’m honest with myself, I know that God has laid some burdens in my life that I haven’t fully acknowledged and worked toward. I want to walk into the new year with my God-given desires and burdens held firmly in my hands, ready to bloom and grow.
What did I go through this past year?
I made it to the other side of every storm, and here I stand, on the precipice between the old year and the new. I can look back and see how God kept me in every situation. Looking from this viewpoint, I can see how He had a plan every step of the way, and every hard step I took was for a purpose. The Bible says we are made overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. I want to gird up my faith in this new year, testifying of God’s goodness and faithfulness, telling others how He brought me out and never left my side.
What part of my life pleased God? What part displeased God?
I have to look back on this past year and take stock of the areas of my life that need improvement. My life is not my own; I was created to worship God, and my life should bring him good pleasure. I want to take my weak areas with me into 2022, aware of them and ready to make them stronger than ever before. I want my life to reflect His glory in this new year more than any year before it. I want to reach for more souls, witness more to people, hold out my hands out more to people who are hurting, and show His love to everyone I meet. I know that in 2021 I bypassed many hearts and opportunities. When I reflect on things and people missed, I can look forward to the ways I can change my steps so that no one is passed by this year.
I don’t want to make a list of intentions for the new year that I will never accomplish. I want to remind myself of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the old year and take my growth and knowledge into the new year. I can’t become who God wants me to be in this next year if I don’t appreciate where He brought from in the past year.
I pray each of you have a bright year ahead of you and that you reflect on how God has brought you through this past year. If there’s one thing we can carry into this next year with us, it’s that every step we take we are not alone. God has a plan and a purpose for each of us - to give us a hope and a future.
Have a blessed new year, friends!
