December 27, 2025
Looking Back, Walking Forward
The end of the year is not the time for resolutions. It is the time to look honestly at what God did this year and to ask Him what He is doing next.
"Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." — Philippians 3:13–14
Brother — between now and the new year, do not make a single resolution. Do this instead.
Get a notebook. Sit down somewhere quiet. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to walk through the year with you. Then ask Him these four questions and write what He shows you. Take an hour.
1. What did You do this year that I almost missed?
Most of God's work in your life this year was not headline. It was the brother He brought across your path in March. The conversation with your son in April. The verse that wouldn't leave you alone in July. The Tuesday in September you didn't fall when you almost did. Write them down. Specifically. He did more than you remember.
2. What pattern did You expose this year?
He showed you something this year about the way you have been operating. Maybe it was a pattern of hiding. A trigger you finally saw clearly. A relationship that was costing you more than it was giving you. A way you have been speaking to your wife. Write it down by name. Patterns that get named are patterns that can be killed.
3. Who did You put in front of me?
The faces. Write the names. The brothers in your team. The pastor you finally got honest with. The counselor. The author whose book broke you. The friend who texted you on October 4 with no idea what God was doing in you that night. Thank Him for each one specifically.
4. What is the one thing You are asking me to do in the new year?
Not five things. One. He is rarely asking for ten new disciplines. He is usually asking for one specific obedience. Tell your wife the rest of it. Start the group. Quit the platform. Move the desk. Take down the account. Forgive him. Forgive her. Forgive yourself. Whatever it is — write it.
Then close the notebook. Tell one brother in your team what you wrote, especially the answer to question four. Ask him to ask you about it in March, when you have already half-forgotten.
This is not a resolution. This is obedience. Resolutions die by February. Obedience changes a year. Walk into 2026 with your hand in His and one brother walking next to you.