What Will You Leave In 2021
Well, here we are once again, that time of the year when all the newness of another year lies before us. “New year, new you” right!! People are making New Year’s resolutions and most of them will not keep them. Some for a few weeks, some a few months but few will make any kind of permanent changes. All of us have been there, determined to change some bad habits, get healthy and such, but soon fail ourselves. What’s the point we think? We will never keep them so why make them?
I offer this possibility for our many failures at this. In order to walk into the new, we must leave behind the old! Scripture is filled with new possibilities, but we must first leave where we are to get where we are going. Isaiah 43:19, Isaiah 42:9, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Revelation 21:5 all speak of new things, but first the “former or the old must pass away”. In order to become a new creation in Christ Jesus, the old man must die. When he does not, he creates trouble for the new man. The same is true for our efforts to change. If we do not recognize what we have been doing that does not work and release that leaving it behind, it will sabotage our efforts in the new.
At the end of the last sermon of 2021 the Pastor said, “Come to the altar and lay down what you want to leave behind”. As I went, the list seemed to get longer as the more I laid things down, the more I realized what I needed to leave there. We are notorious for leaving things at the altar then walking into a situation and picking them up again. So what are we willing to let go of that has a grip on our hearts and lives? If we want to be healthier, we can’t just “go on a diet” why are we not healthy? Why do we overeat, or eat poorly? We cannot “diet” without being aware of why we need to. If we want to be more “loving”, why are we not? What is the “thing” that is an obstacle to love? If we want to break addictions, what is the root of our addiction? What empty place inside of us do we use the addiction to fill? If we want to spend more time with family (for those workaholics out there) why are you overworked? Are you forsaking family to “get ahead”? What are you sacrificing in order to have material possessions? Are you using your job to “hide”? These self-evaluating questions are different as they apply to each person. We are a people very good at “repenting for the fruit” yet never getting to the root of the sin in the first place. So, we continue in the sin cycle because it keeps growing back. Habits and old lifestyle choices are the same. If we don’t get to the “why” we cannot break the “what”.
So, this year, resolve to get to the roots of issues before trying your “new thing”. Find out the “why” of old things that don’t work so when you implement the new, it will become a permanent part of your lifestyle. Get real with God is releasing wounds and hurts, forgiving those that you believe caused them. Break agreements with Satan about yourself that became a result of those hurts. Forgive and release yourself from the pain of the bondage of unforgiveness. You might be surprised at how many health issues and bad habits are tied to unforgiveness. Get healing for trauma, get set free from fear and all the repercussions of walking in it. Determine to discover who you really are and the reality of Jesus Christ in your life. For if you do not, making a resolution to read your bible more, pray more, go to church more will end up just like the rest, a feeble attempt at change without getting to the root of why you need to in the first place. #MyGodisYahweh