The Secret of Finishing Well

The Secret of Finishing Well

Finishing Well - flowingfaith.comAs this year is almost over, our thoughts start to swirl around new beginnings. That’s good. But often we forget that finishing well is a skill that helps us to start well and live well. But, you see, if we don’t finish well, we can’t move on. At least, not well. And that’s what we want. We want to embrace the new with gusto. But that won’t happen if we don’t finish well. Okay, you say, how can we accomplish that? Let’s find out.

Finishing well is relatively easy when things in our lives go smoothly. But finishing well is not meant to be complicated even when our lives are messy and hard. But we unknowingly complicate things when we choose to pretend our lives are smooth when they are not and that takes a toll on us. Or we fall into despair. Neither denial or despair are ways of finishing well. They’re quite the opposite actually.

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
    but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
(Proverbs 28:13, NIV,*)

The Secret of Finishing Well

The only way to finishing well is to look at your life as it is and deal with it. You can’t move on before you’ve faced the chaos of your life. That’s why finishing well is so important. But how can we do it? Looking at your own mistakes is not fun for sure. Sadly, most people don’t finish well, they choose to pretend everything is okay even when they are not. Instead, they try to forget but that does not work in a long run.

The most effective way of dealing with our past is through forgiveness. Only forgiveness swipes our plates truly clean. There’s no one who does not need forgiveness. Hence, we all need Jesus. We need Jesus for finishing well. We can’t even leave this year behind us if we don’t own all of it and ask for forgiveness for the things that did not go well.

Jesus is ready to forgive anyone who asks for it. But too many people choose to live in denial so they don’t have to deal with their sins. When they choose not to own their own mistakes they also forego living well. That’s not their intention, of course. But finishing well is a prerequisite to living well. The only way we can start the new year well is to finish this year well. How do we do it? By repenting the messes we’ve made, by asking forgiveness for our sins and then asking for grace to empower us for living well. That is not complicated, is it? Let’s put our faith in practice.

 

Gracious God,
Thank you for teaching us about the importance of finishing well.
We want to finish well in order to live well.
Forgive us the messes we’ve made,
the things we’ve left undone,
and the sins we’ve committed.
Thank you for forgiving us!
Empower us to live well in the future.
Be our guide into the future.
In Jesus’ precious name,
Amen

Q4U: How do you deal with the end of the year?

Be blessed my fellow pilgrim as you finish well this year and embrace the new with grace!

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash.

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