A Fresh Start
It’s a brand new year; what will we do with it?
The slate for this new year is clean. Maybe I should switch metaphors right now and say the canvas is empty and ready to be painted! What will we paint? I think the picture we paint this year should be one that shows us working to build the Body of Christ. That will be a picture that shows God at work through us, one in which the lives of people around us are changed by God working in their lives, a picture in which relationships are repaired, new relationships are formed and in which God’s glory shines above and throughout the entire scene. In this great canvas there will be no selfishness, there will be no loneliness; only a community of faith with God working in and through all of His people. This will be a scene that shows God’s people living with purpose, in unity and in that certain hope of eternal life.
So, grab your brush and let’s get started! Let’s encourage one another, empower one another and be willing to step up and lead. Let’s not be so concerned with the past, its failures and slip-ups. Rather, let’s press on for the goal that our Lord has set before us, the goal for which we all strive, and that is that on the great day when we meet our Savior face to face, that we hear the words our souls long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Life Project Blog 
Your last paragraph speaks of the Apostle Paul’s encouragement in Philippians 3:12-14, especially 13b-14. In turn, expressing Paul’s intent shows that you are exemplifying 1 Corinthians 2: (12) What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. (13) This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
I was, recently, at an art exhibit that explained the process of various artist. A common (not universal) theme was not to start off with a blank canvas. In fact, due to the cost of materials, artists frequently started with a canvas that had a dated or poorly done painting, then cover it with a new base coat before the new work began. Perhaps that is where we start, covering over last year’s mistakes so we can being anew with this year’s masterpiece.