A new start for everyone
The Christmas and New Year festivities are over, and one of the strongest messages we are confronted with at this time of year is that its time for a new start. Advertisements invite us to get fit, lose weight, eat more healthily, and change our lifestyle.
We may feel pressure, after the excesses of Christmas, to start a new diet, to join a gym, or if we’re already a member, to actually go!
The New Year, it seems, is our opportunity to make a new start, overcome our problems, turn over a new leaf, and make that dreaded New Year’s resolution! One of my hopes for the New Year is that I will do more cycling. We’ll see how it goes!
Those adverts often claim that if we join this gym, or start that diet, then our lives will be transformed. But we know the reality is often different. Our good intentions in January may have faded by the time we reach February or March. And we may be left feeling disappointed with ourselves, or even guilty at our lack of discipline.
But it strikes me that the Christian faith offers a different perspective. Rather than focusing on what we have or haven’t achieved, which can leave us feeling guilty or inadequate, the Christian faith invites us to see what God has done for us
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church is overflowing with thankfulness and praise for all that God has done.
Paul says that God has chosen us to be holy and blameless in his sight, and that God has made it possible for us to be forgiven, in accordance with the riches of his grace.
These aren’t things for us to attain in the future, if we do the right thing and work hard. No, these are blessings that God has already made available to us, if we will open ourselves to him. God doesn’t want us to live with feelings of guilt or inadequacy at what we’ve failed to do, but to know that we are chosen, loved and accepted for who we are.
This New Year, if we’ve made a resolution, may we have the strength to see it through, whilst not being too hard on ourselves if we don’t always manage it!
But may we also be open to what God has already done for us - to his offer of love, forgiveness and acceptance.
Happy New Year!