New Year Thoughts 2023


I’ve been reading all the usual posts of 2023 has to be better than 2022. New year, new beginnings etc. I guess new beginnings are refreshing to most, some start fresh with each new year, some start new (like a diet) each week, every Monday, some open their eyes each morning and see the new day as a chance to “start” again.

There are so many things in this sinful, imperfect world that happen every day and it is our human nature to place blame when something goes wrong. We blame God, we blame others, we blame ourselves. Why do we do this? Why does anyone or anything have to be blamed? Will placing blame change what has already happened? I’m not saying those who purposely did a wrong or made a decision that resulted in a tragedy or harm to someone else should not be held responsible, they should be, especially if their consequence protects someone from being hurt or worse from their doing wrong again in the future. However, God says “It is mine to avenge; I will repay (Romans 12:19). I think that scripture alone is telling us that he has it under control, so we can move on and put it behind us. I realized a long time ago that holding on to the anger and hurt that was caused by someone else, only hurts me and I don’t want the person(s) who have hurt me to have that kind of power over me.

It’s natural for us to grieve our losses, to feel anger, to get caught up in gossip and to sweat the small stuff but if we could all put more effort into changing our mind set, with a “glass half full” attitude, I think not only would we be happier within ourselves, we would be more pleasant to be around. 

If we could praise God for the blessings in our lives and thank him for helping us through the hard times, maybe we’d have less regret and more hope. Psalm 118:24 says “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. 


May this year be the year we focus more on our blessings!





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