New Years Resignations – I Quit!

 

New Years resignations. Yes, you did read that right.

As I write this, we are already at the end of the second week of January. It’s hard to believe that the new year is progressing so rapidly and that before we know it, a month will have passed.

I wanted to speak to you about a thought I came across recently that left its imprint in my mind and heart.

What if the key to this year being a year of change for the better is QUITTING?

Now before you all jump to conclusions about the downfalls of being a quitter, take time to think about what I’m saying.

Have a look at these verses in Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:22-24 KJV - That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Now, this post is not going to be a deep theological one, but I do want to point out the importance of four little words in these verses.

Put off. Put on.

Many years ago, I heard a sermon where the preacher called this the Po-Po principle. It has always stayed with me and as I read my Bible and come across examples of what we are to put off and what we are to put on I am reminded once again of how important it is to make sure we are not only adding to our lives but also subtracting from them.

We all understand the importance of adding things to our lives, like mercy, compassion, grace, patience etc. But did you know that walking the Christian walk and growing more like Christ is also about subtracting things that weigh us down. Taking away things that distract us or hold us back from being all that God wants us to be or what God wants to do in and through us.

New Years resolutions often involve putting a new practice into our lives that will help us physically, mentally or spiritually. And they often mean adding to.

When dieting, you’re not only rejecting the bad foods, but you are adding in healthy, wholesome foods.

When making goals to save money, you’re purposing to add to your savings, little by little by the choices you make.

When deciding to grow in your spiritual walk, you are choosing to add more scripture reading, more prayer and more devotion to God into your daily life.

Maybe it’s time to make some New Years resignations. Maybe it’s time to quit. Maybe some of the goals you need to set this year need to be goals that include letting go. Putting off the weights that are holding you back from God’s perfect will. Resignation vs Resolution.

I was talking to one of my daughters the other day, and we were discussing the prevalence of the victim mentality in today’s world.

We live in a generation where everyone seems to be the victim of some trauma or another. Sadly, this word trauma is thrown around far too casually and has lost its true meaning.

But I think as Christians, we can fall into the trap of this victim mentality in the way we see things and the way we act.

We can begin to become so inward focused that we lose sight of the bigger picture, and we become self-centred instead of Christ-centred. We become the victim and develop the mindset that it’s all about us.

I want to give you a few things that you may need to quit to set yourself up for a better year.

Quit focusing on what you can’t control- How often do we find ourselves getting so caught up with things beyond our control that we lose focus about where God has put us and why we are here? It’s so easy to lose sleep and worry and fret over things that we can’t do anything about. We need to change our mindset to do what we can and leave the rest to God. God does give us the ability to control certain things in our lives but there are a lot of things that he wants us to simply let go of and yield to his control, humbly and in submission. There are a lot of things we can’t control, but we can control how we respond and whether we choose to respond in faith. Quit focusing on the uncontrollable and fix your eyes on Christ.

Quit assuming things will go wrong- I have spent the greater part of my life being a pessimist. If it could go wrong, then it would. I defaulted to negative expectations for the outcomes in my life. But praise God, although it has taken longer than I would have liked, I have learnt that if I look through the lens of God’s Word, I can walk through life with a more positive outlook, and it makes all the difference. The trials we face, the hurt we feel, the aches and pains we suffer are part of our story, yes, but they are not the rest of our story. They are not the whole story. Quit assuming that things will go wrong and trust that God holds the pen and writes the script of your life.

Quit letting your hardships define you- Are you letting the things you go through identify you? Are you letting the label maker of the world stamp words over your life that should never be part of who you are in Christ? If you have been saved, redeemed and justified, then you are a chosen, child of God. Loved. Forgiven. Blessed. Just because you’ve struggled with depression or anxiety or fear, doesn’t mean that it has to define you. It doesn’t get to label you. Speak truth over your life. The truth that only comes from God and his Word. When you became his child, he gave you a new identity and what God calls you is all that matters. Quit letting what you go through label you.

Quit focusing on other people’s lives- In a world that is so obsessed with social media and daily updates about the goings on in other’s lives, you have to make a choice to resist the urge to measure what you have against what others have. We are bombarded day after day with images of other’s wealth, other’s happiness, their prosperity, their glamourous lives etc. We have to learn to embrace wholeheartedly what God has given to us and trust in the unique journey he has us walking through. Whether you see your lot in life as beautiful or not, you have to make the decision to praise God for it and give him the glory he deserves. If we stop looking at other’s lives with longing in our hearts and instead choose to give thanks each and every day for what God so graciously gives us, we will begin to walk in the abundant life he has for us.

Maybe you can think of other things that you need to quit. Things that are unique to you. Are there some resignations you need to make?

We can triumph and have the victory.

2 Corinthians 2:14 KJV - Now thanks [be] unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

Romans 8:37 KJV - Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

In the context of my writing, quitting means letting go of the victim narrative that ensnares and entangles us and refusing to let the hardships of our lives define us. This is not a passive resignation, but instead a choice to embrace the victory we have in Christ and the abundant life he has for us.

John 10:10 KJV - The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.

 

Choose to quit some things this year as the key to the life God has for you.

 

Hebrews 12:1 KJV - Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us