Several years ago, I got into the habit of doing an end of the year assessment of my life. Beginning around the last week of December, I would clean house—mentally, spiritually and socially. I would consider areas I needed to improve in, and make a plan to do better in the new year. I would consciously pray to be released and cleansed of old thought patterns and any hindrances that might prevent me from moving forward. Many of you might do something similar, but what if we looked at our lives this way on a monthly or weekly basis? Why wait an entire year? Surely, we can all use a new beginning in some area of our lives right now.

Growing spiritually in my relationship with God has been a longstanding resolution since childhood, practically. So, I am always considering how to continue that growth. Socially, I would throw out the numbers of all the people who stopped calling me. I would pray to be released from people I never should have hooked up with anyway, and from those I felt connected to who did not reciprocate my feelings. In all areas of my life, I found it necessary to toss out the old, knowing that I could never fully experience anything new until I let go of old emotional pain, baggage and insecurities.

Letting go of the past positions you to live differently and more freely day-by-day. The promise of Christ, his love, restoration and forgiveness is a beautiful one to remember, especially if you did some things you are not proud of. As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. Now that the dust of yesterday has settled, you can see clearly all the mistakes and wrong decisions you made. However, instead of beating yourself up over bad decisions, pray, repent, apologize and move forward with the resolve to do better with the new information you now have.

Approaching the throne of God in prayer on the basis of the righteousness of Christ and the blood he shed for our atonement means that we can be forgiven for our sins. By faith, we receive a clean slate to work with as we pick up the pieces of our lives and march forward into deeper levels of connection with God. Thankfully, we do not have to wait for a yearly cleansing ritual. We can receive a new beginning right now!

Unfortunately, at times we must reap what we sow. Galatians 6:7-9 speaks of this; it might also be referred to as the law of reciprocity or the law of karma, which basically says that what goes around comes around. At some point, you might have to face jail time or job termination for what you have done. So, believing in Christ does not necessarily mean you will not bear the consequences of your wrong behaviors or decisions.

It does mean, however, that through Christ, you have a way out of the pits you have fallen into, and a brand new opportunity to avoid those traps in the future. God’s love covers a multitude of sins.

“The Lord’s love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning; Lord, your loyalty is great” (Lamentations 3:22-23 NCV).

Because of God’s grace, we get pardoned or offered a deal, so that we do not suffer as we might deserve. Christ covers us in comfort and in love while we heal and get accustomed to living our lives by faith and by God’s word.

So, if you entered a wrong relationship, failed to properly acknowledge God in all your ways or whatever you did hours, days or months ago, allow all of that to remain in the past. Pray to God for the ability to forgive yourself, so that you can embrace the new thing, and the new life that Christ has in store for you. Remember, you have to make a decision to stay within the will of God to receive all the good things in life he wants to give you.

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Ashan R. Hampton is the author of several Christian inspirational books: “Prayers & Confessions for Modern Christian Women” (2020), “Still Single Over 40: Reclaim Your Love Life” (2019), “Prayers & Confessions for Teens and Young Adults” (2018), “MCW Living Single Bible Readings” (2017), “Prayers & Confessions for Everyday Victory” (2017), “Before You Start Dating Again” (2016), “Some Bitter, Some Sweet: Becoming a Single Woman God Can Use” (2016), “Soul Thoughts: Poems & Essays” (2015), “Girl Please…Know When to Let That Man Go” (2015). 

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