Real Hope: New BeginningsSample

A New Approach to Newness

Oftentimes, we associate newness with something that is untouched, unblemished, and that we haven’t possessed before; a watch is new when no one else has owned it and you’ve now bought it. Your sneakers are new when the color isn’t faded and the sole hasn’t been worn in.

If that’s our only understanding of newness, David’s prayer in the Psalms is hard to reconcile.

How can God create purity in a heart that’s already lived in an impure world? How can our spirit be renewed if new only applies to things we’ve not owned before?

Sometimes in life we find ourselves in a season where we’re crying out for a new beginning. A fresh start and a clean slate. Our relationships may feel stale, our heart cloudy, and our soul well and truly worn in. We want the thrill of ‘new’. We want to get away from it all.

There’s no denying a change of scenery can be beneficial, but, before you upheave your life in search of the new, consider whether ‘newness’ needs to be born out of YOU. Does your job need to change, or do you need a new perspective on it? Does your spouse need to stop annoying you, or do you need a purified heart that doesn’t turn first to anger?

Having God as our Father means we’re never without an opportunity to start over. No matter how damaged your heart or weary your spirit, God is well able to create purity in the broken and restore strength to the overwhelmed.

Written by Laura Bennett