Starting Fresh Every Day
All of us live lives that are so very emotional and stressful. There is always
something going on, and we sometimes wonder how we are going to manage such
pressure. Some people have learned the inner peace which God describes. Paul
wrote in Philippians 4:7 about the peace which passes all understanding. Would
you like to learn more about this peace? I think we all would.
There are times we wish we could wipe the slate clean and start over. Often
we have made mistakes which we regret having done, and there are times we would
like to take back something we have said or done. To start over gives us new
hope for the day as long as we do not journey down the same path that put us
into trouble in the first place. That is the problem for most people. They do
not know any other way than the path of destruction. Well, God has an answer
to your problems.
If you will obey the gospel of Christ and do what it teaches you can start over.
You start over, fresh, with a clean slate. You start over with a new hope that
has evaded you for some time. As Paul wrote in Romans 6, you start to walk in
newness of life. This only happens if we put away our old self, and start with
a new self.
Colossians 3 explains it as putting off the old man and putting on the new man.
The old man is where the sin was present in its various forms. When we put away
the sin in our life, we start anew. The qualities of life that we must fill
the void with are goodness, peace, righteousness, joy, happiness, calmness,
and just so many other things to be. It is like everything that separates you
from God is removed, and you can start over. My, what a grand feeling that is
to have.
As we begin our Christian life and journey through time, we find that we have
the privilege of starting over with a fresh slate every day, every hour, as
often as we want. Faithful Christians have the privilege of prayer where we
can pray for forgiveness and receive it. This starts us out fresh and clean
each time we do it.
As we realize we make mistakes along the way, we have to go to God in prayer
and ask for forgiveness. God does forgive and as often as we ask. What we must
do on our part is to remove and eliminate those errors in judgment, those mistakes,
and those things which God calls sin. It can be done, and we are asked to do
that very thing. It happens when we take on the mind of Christ. Christ never
sinned, and we should make it our goal to do the same from this day forward.
It is possible to be spiritually minded enough to keep the world's influence
from getting to you. It takes effort on our part to study God's word so that
we may know how to keep from sin. It happens when we put God's word in our hearts
(Psalm 119:11).
Just imagine how happy you could be knowing that God has given you a second,
or third, or fourth, etc. chance at life. God gives you the ability to do good
to others and help them find their way. God helps you to set a good example
for others to follow. God changes your life so that you now have the ability
to change others' lives. It can happen. Just put your trust in Jesus and obey
His commands. Do this every day and you will have a fresh start all the time.
You will no longer have your past mistakes burden you.
By Carey Scott
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