Counselor’s Corner: Beginning Again: Out With the Old and in With the New

Before you can move into your new season you have to let go of the old first.

“Old what you may be asking?”

1.      Old attitudes that keep you in the “wilderness,” and moving into your “promised land.” These attitudes include: complaining, murmuring, fault-finding, covertness, thanklessness, self-pity, blaming others, being a victim of your circumstances, and idolatry (placing anything ahead of God).

2.      Old mind-sets. Allowing your minds to think whatever it wants, and not taking every thought captive into the obedience of Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Thinking thoughts that are negative, faithless, and hopeless. Some of you have strongholds and lies that you have believed for years and need to be torn-down by renewing your minds in the Word of God.

3.      Holding onto the old things of the past. Some friendships, ministries, and possibly marriages did not succeed but when we hold onto these things and condemn ourselves repeatedly for our past mistakes we cannot move forward. Ask God to forgive you if you need to, and believe that God has forgiven you and that He does not want you dwelling in your past any longer. (Philippians 3:13-14).

4.      Living in cycles of defeat and hopelessness. Believe in this new season you will be victorious and an overcomer in every situation. Begin to believe the best about yourself and others.

5.      Get comfortable with not fitting in with the crowd and being different. Stop allowing yourself to be consumed by what people think of you. In this new season care more about what God thinks of you.

Moving forward into your promised land will require “letting go” of former things. Former things that are no longer working for you, and possibly areas of sin in your lives that must be dealt with.

Ask yourself what is no longer working in your life?

For example you want to go forward in your life and experience all that God has for you but you are still holding onto selfishness and pride. Perhaps God is asking you to let go of worry and fear. Anything that could be hindering you from moving forward God very well may have you to remove these before preceding to what He has for you next. If you have gotten yourself into the habit of complaining, God may have you deal with this before experiencing your breakthrough or blessing that you have been waiting for.

Ask God what old things need to be discarded in your life, and what new things He is wanting to bring into your life. You may have to get rid of the old before God can make room for the new. Some things no longer work for us, and we need to have wisdom to what those things are. If you are going to purchase a new car and your old car is still in the garage, how can you make room for that new car? Some will try and fit the new car with the old car, but why would you want to hold onto your old car if it no longer is working? Some of us need to stop holding onto to the things in our past, so that God can make room for the new things He is trying to bring to pass.

If what you are doing in your life is not working, it is time to make some changes. The mental health definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Is it time for change?