One of the foundational principles that I live my life by is the belief that how you END something determines how you are able to START something new.
The way you LEAVE a job will determine how you BEGIN your new job. The way you END one relationship has a bearing on your NEXT relationship. How you TRANSITION OUT from one season will impact the seasons that FOLLOW.
If you LEAVE things undone or unsaid, you risk carrying the weight of those mistakes with you as you move forward. However, if you are aware and work to FINISH WELL, you have a better chance of STARTING WELL in your next endeavor.
How you END something determines how you are able to START something new.
I care deeply about you and your family as well as your hopes and dreams. That’s why I want to encourage you to do what you can to END the year well so that you may BEGIN the new year well. I believe that the effects of this year will continue to haunt you and hold you back from growth in the future if you don’t handle the transition well. I want to help you faithfully and intentionally work to END well so that you can BEGIN the new year with confidence knowing you did all you could do to ensure a great start.
I want to share with you today 3 things you must do in order to END well and START well.
REFLECT
The first thing you must do is REFLECT on this past year. Yes, I want you to review what may have been the worst year of your life or a year of unprecedented success for you personally and professionally. I want you to look back on the good, bad, and ugly of this past year with clear eyes. I want you to try to remember the things your experienced and the major events of this past year. What happened to you? How did you feel? What positive habits were you able to begin? What negative habits may have held you back?
Lamentations 3:19-24 (NIV) says…
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
No doubt your year was filled with highs and lows and all the days between. However, one thing remained constant throughout them all and that is the STEADFAST LOVE OF THE LORD for you. God’s love, care, concern, provision, presence never went away over the last 12 months. You may not have always been aware of it… you may not have “felt” it… you may have forgotten… but Yahweh was and is and is to come.
Besides some of the questions I encouraged you to ask above, take a few moments over the coming days, get alone with God or gather your family in a time of family worship and study to explore your answers to the following:
– Where did I see God this year?
– How was my faith challenged this past year?
– In what ways did I grow in my love and trust for Jesus this year?
– What is my favorite memory of the year? What is my least favorite moment from this past year?
– What was my biggest challenge this year?
– What would I like to leave behind this year?
– What would I have God help me change or help me grow in during the coming year?
REFLECTING on your year is important because you need to ACKNOWLEDGE what happened, pay ATTENTION to significant moments, so you can ADDRESS your growth and set backs more clearly moving forward.
REPAIR
The second thing you must do to END this year and START next year well is to make every effort to REPAIR any relationship that you know needs attention.
There are different levels of REPAIR…
Some relationships need some attention and maintenance. These relationships need a little CARE and concern so that they can remain healthy.
Some relationships need to be pieced back together. Hurts and Mistakes need to be CORRECTED.
Some relationships need to be wrapped up and put away so that you can move forward. These relationships need proper CLOSURE so that you can both move on.
Matthew 5:23–24 (CSB)
So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
You life is made up of so many different relationships. Some you need to lean into over the next year so that you can help one another grow and be encouraged through the different seasons of life. Some relationships though may cause you pain, frustration, and ultimately leave you hurt and discouraged. Consider the following questions to help you determine what level of CARE, CORRECTION, or CLOSURE may be needed in your relationships:
– What relationships did I experience a deeper level with this year? Why did this relationship deepen?
– What relationships experience a distancing or drifting this year? Why did this happen? (Resist placing/taking blame and try to objectivly describe any situation or event that may have caused this relationship to drift)
– What relationship do I need to intentionally bring to a close? How is this relationship keeping me from growth or health?
RECOMMIT
I often wonder how the focus, direction, and motivation for our lives would change if we read the Greatest Commands and the Great Commission from Jesus every morning and before we went to sleep every night.
Matthew 22:37–40 (NIV)
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 28:18–20 (CSB)
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Consider this question:
– What would it look like if my every thought, decision, and action were influenced by just these 2 passages? How would my attitude change? How would it impact my relationships with others? How would is affect my work, my desires, my entire life?
I want to encourage you to RECOMMIT to being a fully-engaged disciple of Jesus Christ every day this next year. Fully- Engaged Disciples walk with Jesus and engage in the following practices with Him and God’s people:
Disciples WORSHIP PASSIONATELY
Disciples GROW DAILY
Disciples LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Disciples GIVE GENEROUSLY
Disciples JOIN THE MISSION
Disciples SHARE THEIR FAITH
These HABITS help to FORM us in the way of Jesus and BIND us together as brothers and sisters. As we Worship, Grow, Love, Give, Join, and Share our HEARTS, SOULS, MINDS, and LIVES are oriented toward King Jesus and life in his kingdom.
Romans 13:11-14 (MSG)
But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!
How you END something determines how you are able to START something new… How will you END this year?… How will you BEGIN the new year?