One Sunday earlier this year, a grandmother of a three-year-old little girl in my Sunday School class was dropping her off. The little girl was a little teary-eyed. (Sometimes a three-year-old just feels sad and doesn’t want her parents or grandparents to leave her.) To try to get the little girl’s mind on something else as she dropped her off, the grandmother told me the little girl had recently gotten her hair cut.
“Oh my, you were so brave!” I said.
“No, I wasn’t,” she responded matter-of-factly. “I screamed the whole time.”
Although in the moment I stifled a laugh at this amusing response, it reminds me of how often, even as adults, we forget to celebrate achievements, especially the ones where we feel like we weren’t brave enough in the moment to be worthy of celebration. Perhaps as you were going through something hard this past year, you felt like you weren’t strong enough. Maybe you screamed and cried too. But here you are, still standing. You were so brave!
It’s easier to focus on what we didn’t accomplish rather than what we did this past year. I want to encourage you, as we head into a new year, to look back and find the courage to celebrate the hard moments of growth you experienced.
The Courage to Celebrate
Throughout Scripture, God calls us to celebrate. In Nehemiah 8, the Levites explained the law of God to the Israelites so that they “could understand what was read.” And the people wept because the Word of God convicted them. But the Levites quieted them and said,
“Do not grieve, because the joy of the LORD is your strength. … Then all the people began to eat and drink, send portions, and have a great celebration, because they had understood the words that were explained to them” (vv. 10b,12).
The Levites encouraged the Israelites to celebrate, and they began to practice joy and celebration because they now understood why they should celebrate—because the joy of the Lord is their strength! Even though they had made mistakes and the Word of God rightly convicted them, when they truly understood the words explained to them, they celebrated, expressing joy and gratitude for God’s unconditional mercy and love toward them.
Just like the Israelites, although we may feel sorrow, we can practice joy because we can have faith that the Lord will be our strength. He will carry us through our mistakes. Rather than dwelling on the mistakes you made, take courage to use those moments to propel you forward in a spirit of growth. Celebrate the moments in 2023 that matured you. The three-year-old in my class who cried during her initial haircut experience as a little girl will one day grow into a young woman who is not afraid of haircuts at all—and probably won’t even remember how she used to be afraid of them!
The Courage to Forgive
Before His crucifixion, Jesus sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44), and Hebrews 5:7 tells us,
“During his earthly life, he offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.”
Leading up to the crucifixion, Jesus was in great distress at what He was taking on. Despite suffering an agonizing death on the cross, Jesus still said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). During His crucifixion, people mocked and scoffed at Jesus. I can’t imagine anything worse from a father’s perspective than seeing your child scorned, rejected, beaten, and killed. Yet, the Father heard His Son’s request and has forgiven us of our sins if we receive His free gift of salvation.
Perhaps you are struggling to move forward in the new year because someone hurt you deeply and you have not been able to forgive them. Just as Jesus requested for forgiveness on our behalf to His Father, He also instructs us to prioritize forgiving others: “But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too” (Mark 11:25, NLT). Forgiveness doesn’t mean the person did not wrong you. Scripture doesn’t shy away from telling us about the evil the people committed when they nailed Jesus to the cross. Forgiveness means extending grace, remembering how God has forgiven us time and again. When something committed against us feels unforgivable, we can remember Jesus’s example. Forgiveness allows us to move forward.
Looking forward
As you look back on the past year, maybe you feel behind going into 2024 and like you didn’t accomplish nearly the amount you wanted to in 2023. Maybe you look back on the past year and feel bitterness or anger toward things that happened to you or people who hurt you. These feelings are valid, but I believe we can move forward in this broken world and take courage by receiving strength from God. He will sustain us and fill our hearts with joy. I will leave you with a few verses from Psalm 27 to carry us into the new year. Through God alone, we can be brave and courageous in 2024:
“The LORD is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? … Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence. Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord” (vv. 1,12-14, NLT).
ABOUT ERIN FRANKLIN
Erin Franklin is a marketing specialist on the Lifeway Women team where she manages the Lifeway Women blog and produces the MARKED Podcast. A graduate of Lipscomb University and a lifelong Tennessean, she enjoys a good ping-pong match, photography, and learning new things. You can connect with her on Instagram @erin_franklin.
