In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Few steps should be taken in order to get a new beginning. The first step is the quiet time. When you spend some quality time with yourself and you think of your life, how was it in the past and how would you see it in the future? When you ask yourself questions, what were the defects in the last year? What do you have as positives, as talents, as good things in your life? What kind of challenges you are facing? Who are the good people in your area? So just ask yourself many questions, answer them. And you may write down many of these ideas. By checking upon your life by this quiet time, you can arrange for the future. You can plan for a better life in the coming year. The second important step is to set your priorities.
By setting priorities, we mean that you put all things occupying your week on your mind your whole day and reset them. Put the most important thing as a priority.
+ Your relationship with God should be a priority.
+ Your relationship with your wife, your children, or your close family members should be a second priority.
+ Your work should be the third one.
+ Your reading and enjoyment time should be a fourth one.
You may spend time walking or playing sports. And while doing this, you can also pray. So just reset the priorities. Many things are not needed in your schedule. You have to put them aside. You have to make strong decisions in order to set priorities. By doing so, you will have a new beginning. A third important step is that, in a new beginning, you need to make yourself accountable to someone. In our Orthodox Church, we have the father of confession. When you go visit your father of confession, now you have some kind of accountability.
Transformative Steps: A Roadmap to Spiritual Renewal and Personal Growth
1. Seeking Guidance
Someone will check upon you, and you are very open to him. You are telling him everything. You want his advice, his guidance. By doing this, you will be guided. You will be led by him in order to step good steps in your future life. So you need someone to help you, and that will help you to be a better person in a better life.
2. Overcoming Negativity
A fourth important step in having a new beginning is to stop thinking negatively. You can see in your mind some negative ideas, penetrating your heart, your mind, attacking you, telling you that you are a big failure, you will not achieve anything. You are not beloved by many people. You are mostly rejected. You have done bad, major bad things. Stop thinking this way. Try not to lose your heart. Try to stick to the hope given by God as the father and by the promises in the Bible. By sticking to this hopeful attitude, you can have a better beginning.
3. Drawing Closer to God
Another important step in having a new beginning, you need to come closer to God. By praying fervently, by spending more time with the Bible, by coming to the church in a more regular way, by having close friends from the church environment, by trying to rely upon God in whatever you do. Try to have new goals in life related to God Himself, to the Word of God. Thinking of yourself as a missionary person, a man with a mission. So by coming closer to God, you will have a stronger, better life.
4. The Power of Reading
Another important step in having a new beginning, I think you need to read more. Because when you read books, especially the Bible, the father’s writings, the important good books, this will give you new ideas. And by renewing your mind, by having a new mindset, this will help you to grow, to feel stronger, to be confident in your life, and to think of this life in a different way. So reading is important, and this might give you a new beginning.
5. Making Strong Decisions
For a new beginning, one should have strong decisions. One of the important decisions to be taken is to stop doing bad things, going to some bad places, stopping any kind of lusts if you can. Just struggle, just keep resisting your desires. Come over them by the power of God and by your will. Do not lose heart because God will help you if you decide to do this. And also, you have to take another decision that you grow as a person in this life. So by making a better relationship with people, you can offer love and help to everyone. You can start thinking of being a servant in the church or outside the church. Also taking a decision like studying something in order to get more skills in your life, to be a better person, and to think in a better way. So by studying, you will feel confident and you can change many things in your life.
