“As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.” – Proverbs 26:11 (NLT)
It is hard to believe that we are at the end of another year and God willing we’ll be stepping into a new year tomorrow.
2024 has been one for the books. There has been a lot of exciting and good things that have happened this year, but this year has also been full of tears and what felt like some soul crushing moments.
This year flew by so fast and because so much can happen in a year, it is easy to forget some of the things that you actually need to remember.
One thing that I started doing in 2022 that has helped me to reflect and make better choices moving into a new year is that I now end the year reflecting on my wins and my lessons.
I purposely say wins and lessons instead of wins and losses because I don’t consider anything a loss if you learn something from it.
Doing this at the end of the year has been very encouraging because there have been times where I felt like I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to, but when I go back month by month and write out what I did accomplish, I often end up surprised by how much I actually did accomplish.
It doesn’t matter how small it may seem, if you set out to lose 20lbs and you only lost 10lbs, it’s still a win because you lost something and you got closer to your ultimate goal.
Writing out wins is a pretty straight forward activity, but before you begin to write down your lessons learned I recommend praying and asking God what He has been trying to show you, and I also recommend being honest with yourself no matter how much the truth may hurt.
Asking God to help you with this part and being brutally honest with yourself could potentially save your life.
Every year, we all find ourselves at a crossroads where there are some habits, things, and people that we have to let go and for many people the end of the year is the easiest time to do this.
When everyone around you is talking about a new year, new opportunities, and a new you, most of us jump on the “out with the old and in with the new” bandwagon.
However, because most people don’t take the time to understand the reason behind why certain habits, certain people and certain things must go, before January is over a lot of people have returned to old ways and old people.
We’ve all been guilty of this.
We have a health scare, and we make a decision to start eating better and to exercise more, but once it seems like our health is back on track, we can’t wait to order pizza and wings (which is fine occasionally, but most people lack self-discipline) and unhealthy eating and complacency becomes a lifestyle.
We make a decision to get our finances in order and begin paying off debt, then our friends and family decide it’s time for a group trip and we don’t want to feel left out so we spend money we know we shouldn’t.
We’ve finally built up the courage to end that toxic relationship, but then that person calls saying all the right things and we fall for it for the millionth time.
Going back is easy. It’s what you’re used to. It’s familiar. It’s comfortable, but going back is slowly killing you and everything concerning you.
Every time you go back to unhealthy habits, you are moving farther and farther away from the life God desires for you.
Every time you go back to unhealthy friendships and relationships, you are blocking the destiny helpers and purpose partners God has for you.
Every time I am tempted to want to go back to things and people, I have let go of God reminds me of Lot’s wife. If you’re not familiar with this story, you can find it in Genesis 19:15-26.
The crazy thing in that story is Lot’s wife didn’t even go back to what they left, she just looked back and it cost her life.
I truly believe God was trying to drive the point home of how dangerous going back can be.
I know you’ve heard the saying “if God brings you out of something, don’t you dare go back.”
I am also reminded of the children of Israel who God took them the long way as he brought them out of slavery because He did not want them to quickly forget what they came out of and make a foolish decision to go back.
I am certain just like me there have been situations and relationships where you begged God to make a way for you to get out and as soon as things didn’t look the way you wanted, you probably said things to yourself like:
“That job wasn’t that bad; the money was great.”
“Those friends aren’t that bad, it’s better than having no friends.”
“That relationship wasn’t that bad, I know other women who have it way worse.”
We can all make excuses for staying in mess that we were praying to get out of at one point.
But as we are preparing to crossover into 2025, I honestly feel like God is wanting us to have a shift in our perspectives. I feel like 2024 was a year where we were called to grow up and put away our childish way of thinking and doing things.
God is wanting to do something new in our lives, but it will never happen if we keep going back to things and people God said to let go.
As the verse above states, a person that repeats their foolishness is like a dog going back to his vomit. Have you ever seen a dog eat his own vomit? It’s disgusting. That is how we look when we keep going back to what we shouldn’t.
I know sometimes it’s easier said than done, but God will empower us to do anything that He has called us to do. He’s not asking you to let go of things without having something way better in store for you.
My prayer for all of us for 2025 is from Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) and it’s that we all will learn to:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Here’s to not going back and to moving forward.
Happy New Year!!!
