Ending a year looks different for all of us, but it’s important to recognise what ending it well looks like for you.
As we get ready to celebrate Christmas and enter 2025, I encourage you to take some time and space to process 2024 so you finish well. Any baggage weighing you down right now needs to be dropped and buried, amen?
And if you’re wondering how to do that, here are some ideas to consider:
1. Forgive.
Every offence that you hold on to only hurts you, not the other person(s). If you want different results in your life, you need different fruit in your heart. And to get different fruit in your heart, you need different seed that’s actually good seed (see Matthew 13:3-23).
Offence is bad seed that yields bitter fruit because it walls up and hardens your heart. Forgiveness is good seed that yields sweet fruit because it softens and refreshes your heart.
I don’t know about you, but I want good seed in my heart so I can have good fruit in my life. And if 2025 is going to be different for us, unforgiveness can’t hang out in our hearts and block God’s best for us.
What does the Bible say about the heart?
“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:43-45 NKJV).
Also see Colossians 3:12-14 and Ephesians 4:25-32 for snapshots of how important it is to keep your heart healthy and free of offence.
2. Review.
Declutter your mind and space. Make room for the new.
Celebrate what worked, make peace with what didn’t, and look forward to what’s ahead.
The only way to stop making the same mistakes is to pinpoint them so you can address them.
What do you need to stop doing now so your 2025 can be vibrant, joyful, and on purpose?
3. Rejoice.
God is still good today. No matter what went wrong or isn’t working out right now, He’s still good and worthy of your praise.
True joy bursts forth even in the midst of the storm because it’s all about Jesus, not about how you feel.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4 NKJV).
“Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls- Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17-18 NKJV).
Also see Lamentations 3:21-24 on how to rejoice even when it makes no sense to do so.
4. Pray. Plan. Purpose.
“Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established” (Proverbs 16:3 NKJV).
Praying into the New Year isn’t just about making a list of prayer requests, but also about a shift in thinking that aligns your mind with the mind of Christ.
If you want to live on purpose in 2025, then you have to be in His purpose. Fulfilment comes when you’re about your Father’s business, not yours.
Making space to hear His voice matters because your purpose is hidden in His voice, which is hidden in His Word. Making yourself available to the Lord opens up His counsel to you when you’re in His Word and His Word is in you.
This means that taking the time to read and meditate on the Bible helps you to understand God’s will for your life when He speaks through His Word by His Spirit.
Before you make plans for 2025, invite Holy Spirit to partner with you. What does that look like?
“Holy Spirit, will You lead me through next year? Help me to live how You want me to live. Help me to obey Your Word and Your voice. Open my eyes to see like You see, and my ears to hear like You hear.”
The Lord wants to lead you and me in every season, but we have to be willing to listen and obey.
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go: I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you” (Psalm 32:8-9 NKJV).
Help is available to us, but we have to accept it first before our lives can change.
What has the Lord spoken over you or planted in your heart that hasn’t happened because you’re yet to accept it and do what He said?
A Prayer For You
I pray that 2025 is a blessed year for you. I pray that you grow into who God made you to be, that you see yourself as He sees you, and that you yield yourself to obey His will and His Word.
May you be led by Holy Spirit, covered by the Blood, and rooted in His Word. I pray that every dry bone comes back to life, every hidden wound is healed, and every sorrow gives way to joy (Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 147:3; Isaiah 61:1-3).
Let the New Year be a time of consecration, refreshing, and purpose. I pray that His perfect will be done in your life and even in those around you, in Jesus’ Name.
Hey big sis, thank you so much for ur blog,,, may the Lord preserve you for us . many many more years to come….please check my emails direct ok. i miss charting with you, i even sent you a message on facebook. bongani here.