Of course, January 1 also represents a new beginning at the start of each calendar year. It feels like a brand new chance to start habits, change habits, or maybe get rid of certain habits altogether. New Year’s Day is the perfect time to turn the page and embrace the blank slate of a new year. For me as a teacher, the month of August brings those same kinds of feelings to the surface! As teachers and students report for a new school year, there’s just an air of excitement that comes along with the opportunity for a fresh start. New school supplies, new classroom decorations, new teachers, new students, new class schedules… Everything that comes along with a new school year brings perhaps nervous energy, but it simultaneously represents the beauty and hope of forgetting the past and starting anew. 

But just because it’s not Opening Day, January 1, or the start of a new school year doesn’t mean that newness is off the table. The Bible is full of verses that talk about new beginnings. Do you feel stuck? Or do you feel like nothing’s been going your way, and your heart, mind and spirit would benefit from declaring a new start? One of these verses might be the perfect one to spur you forward and embrace a fresh start.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! -2 Corinthians 5:17

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. -Ephesians 4:22-24

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. -1 Peter 1:3

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” -Lamentations 3:22-24

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. -Isaiah 43:19

“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” -Isaiah 65:17

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. -Ezekiel 11:19

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. -Ezekiel 36:26

If you’re in a place today where you’re desperate for a new beginning, I pray one of these verses speaks to your heart. (Of course, I added the emphasis on all of them.) If you need to, stop, close your eyes, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you which verse is the one for you in your current life circumstance. Then, take hold of it! Meditate on it, pray over it, read it when you wake up and before you go to bed, put it on your phone’s home screen, write it on a sticky note to put on your bathroom mirror, and maybe even memorize it. Let it be your lifeline and the source of hope you need as you turn over a new leaf and resolve to begin anew. 

One day, God will make EVERYTHING new. When Jesus returns and brings with Him full restoration, we will no longer need to yearn for a fresh start. That future reality might be hard to even imagine, but as you seek and embrace new beginnings even now, remember the ultimate new beginning that is yet to come. What a day that will be!

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” -Revelation 21:4-5