The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
Ecclesiastes 7:8
As we close one year and begin another, we tend to focus more on setting resolutions for the upcoming year than we do considering the year just past. Often these new year's resolutions take the form of pride rather than patience. Pride says "I will accomplish this." Patience says "I have accomplished this." Are you already considering all you will accomplish in 2024? Why not stop and consider 2023 first?
"The end of a matter is better than its beginning." At the end of a matter, all the striving is done. There is time not only to rest and take joy in one's accomplishments, but also to glean wisdom from the experience. At the beginning of a matter, however, there is often busyness and ceaseless fretting over all one has to do. At the outset of a new undertaking, there is too much to do to stop and enjoy one's work or to gain understanding. When we focus only on what we will run after in the new year we rob ourselves of the pleasure of a good end and the possibility of wisdom gained.
So as you prepare for a new year, hold off making resolutions for 2024 just yet. Don't allow yourself to become engulfed in new undertakings until you have properly enjoyed and considered those just finished. Stop. Pause a moment and enjoy what was accomplished this year. What accomplishments do you need to praise God for from 2023 before you move on and forget them? Consider what wisdom can be gleaned from your experiences this past year. What have you learned from 2023? What or who do you need to close the book on in your life as you move into 2024? What mistakes do you need to learn from? How were you deceived and led into sin? If you can pinpoint it, then you can avoid making the same mistakes and falling for the same temptations again.
For further reading...
- Ecclesiastes 7- Read the whole chapter.
- Psalm 119:71-72, Proverbs 19:25, & 24:30-34- Wise persons learn from what they see and experience.
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