New Years is usually a time when we think about resolutions, new goals, new things coming just around the corner. What can we add to our lives to make it better. But sometimes, perhaps it’s not only a question of what new things or habits we can acquire, but also… what things and habits we should get rid of.

The new year brings about some changes for me personally. I am moving into a season of full-time teaching at my school. Being a ‘part-time’ teacher for many years, meant that I filled up the rest of my time with all sorts of other responsibilities. The obvious one being my other part-time job of church admin. But also, I did additional school admin support, librarian duties, and school and marketing tasks. Increasing my teaching responsibilities naturally means that some other things will have to move over, or go completely to make room in my schedule. This is not going to be easy for me. I enjoy doing all these things and they have been a big part of my ‘work’ life over the last three or so years. But letting these things go is a necessity for me at this time. I have to let go to make room.

In our spiritual lives, we sometimes have to let go of things to make room for God to do His work. Get rid of things from our heart to allow God space to work a new thing.

One of these could be bitterness. I think most of us will say immediately, “Oh yes, bitterness – get it out! Absolutely! We don’t need it. It’s damaging…” But how many of us are actually able to do it as easily as it is said? Whether we agree with it or not, it's easy to hold onto bitterness. We carry it around and cling to it like a mobile phone. Perhaps we even sometimes use it as a weapon of manipulation and control – or at least think about doing that. But the ironic thing is, it controls us instead, never leading to anything life-giving for us or the person we hold resentment towards.

Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Job 21:25.

I wish it was an easy thing, to just get rid of bitterness. But it comes from situations we usually feel completely justified about. Someone hurt us, they were wrong, we were right and so why shouldn’t I feel resentment? We hold it up like some trophy, proving we were right and hard-done-by. And from this, bitterness grows and flourishes. So it’s perhaps not the bitterness we need to snip off, but the pride. Pride is the root and by pulling out the root, perhaps bitterness will come with it.

Another thing we might need to let go of is fear. Fear is something else that is easy to agree to toss. Especially since we can sometimes be deceived into thinking we don’t have any fear. We’re redeemed, we’re forgiven and we live under God’s love… But there might be things that you know are right or that God is calling you to – that you are holding back from. What do you think is holding you back? It’s usually fear. Satan convinced Eve to fear missing out on something. That God wasn’t the Friend she thought He was. What is your fear? Reflect deeply and search within to answer that one. Work out what the fear is exactly… and then you’ll be able deal with it with God’s help.

Selfishness is another thing that creeps in and takes up a lot of space without us knowing. On surface level it’s, once again, easy to say we are not selfish. And I don’t believe I’m in a church full of ‘selfish people’. But, like fear and bitterness, we have to learn to recognise it and name it in order to deal with it. The bible tells us we must die to our selfish desires. In our everyday lives it might just look like:

• getting grouchy when our young children wake us up too early or interrupt the ‘important’ things we’re doing
• huffing when our spouse is twenty minutes late getting home
• mumbling choice words when the slowpoke in front of us stops really early at a yellow light
• being passive-aggressive when we feel unheard… etc.

All of it comes naturally to us. But none of it is helpful for anyone, least of all, ourselves. Next time something doesn’t go your way, truly note how you respond. Identify what most easily produces anger and frustration in your heart. Once you recognise where your selfishness runs most deeply, you can create healthier habits of reciting scripture, whispering simple prayers, and taking a few moments to pause and refocus.

There are many more things we could look at getting rid of. But one more to mention here is unrealistic expectations. Will some of these things I’ve discussed above creep back in sometime in the new year? Of course they will! So surrender the notion that you’ll be able to perfectly let go of them. You are both saved and sinful, and this contradiction won’t end until Christ makes all things new in the next life. But we can certainly be aware and watchful of them. It’s not like we only have one day of the year (1st January) to do a huge clean-up and toss-out and the next big clean will have to wait until this time next year. We can be renewed daily. We can be renewed moment by moment. The very second we recognise a struggle within us, we can whisper one of those simple prayers, pause to shift our focus, or recite a helpful scripture. Make space for the Lord to do His work, unfurl your fists that are so tightly clutching onto things you shouldn’t be. Ask the Lord for help.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” 

Lamentations 3:22-23

My kids are giddy with excitement when it comes to Christmas. It’s such a special time of year for them. The story of Jesus, Christmas trees, decorations and the anticipation of presents can almost be too much for them.

We will frequently go to our local Big W or Target and the girls will walk the aisles picking, choosing, or requesting what they might like for Christmas.

I have often wondered, why younger kids seem to enjoy Christmas so much and that sense of ‘awe and wonder’ seems to fade as they get older. I think it is because even though they don’t know what they are going to get, they know it’s going to be good. That knowledge allows them to eagerly anticipate what is coming.

I think God wants us to have a child-like faith like this when it comes to life.

One of the most impactful verses in my life has been Romans 8:28 which says:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

You can find that particular verse plastered all over things. Yet it holds a significant truth that can change the way we view life.

God is working everything out for our good.

Not just the good times when everything is going according to plan. But the bad times, when everything is a mess. The times where we are heart broken and disappointed and frustrated and wishing that things could just be different. Even in those times, God is working everything for good.

I once heard a preacher state it like this: “If it’s not good, it’s not over.”

If I can capture that truth in my heart, it changes the way I see the world. I can eagerly anticipate the future, not because I know, understand or have control over what it will be. But because I know that no matter what the future may hold, because of Jesus and His love for me, it will be good.

Colossians 3:12-14

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

I was running late for school the other day, driving down Wattle Street towards Unley. You might know that Wattle Street is 50kph. But I was going 40kph. And that’s because the person in front of me was driving at 40kph. If there’s one thing that annoys me on the road… it’s people tailgating me. BUT… I find it very hard not to tailgate myself when the person in front of me is not observing the liberalities of the speed limit. We came to some roadworks, where the speed limit changed to 40kph. So the person in front of me is going the right speed now right? Nope! They slowed down to 30kph.

“Um… you were already going 40! No need to slow down! You were fine!”

Soon, we come up to the Duthy Street traffic lights. The lights had been green a little while back, but as we approached, they turned red and I felt very confident that had I been able to go 50kph this whole time (even with the roadwork stretch) I would have made it through those lights. And I said it. I announced to myself in the hearing of Beth and Emily, sitting in the back seat, “I would have made those lights if it wasn’t for this person in front of me!”

At the intersection, the road splits into two lanes — both go straight, but the left can also turn left and the right can also turn right. The car ahead takes the left lane. There’s no one else at the lights, so I go in the free lane on the right. Naturally, I glance over at the driver beside me — because apparently, we all need to get a good look at the face of the person who’s been annoying us.

Now stationery, I reflect that my little grumble was probably not a great example for my girls. I lift my left hand up a little, palm out towards the car next to me and say, “I love you with Jesus’ love,” and then say no more about it.

Now that we had been at the lights, the road was clear in front of me. The slow person was going to turn left (I had seen their indicator earlier) and I had nothing in front of…

No. Just milliseconds before my light goes green, a last second right-turner from Duthy street comes and turns onto Wattle. My light goes green. This new car is now right in front of me. And slow.

…On their back window is a sticker that simply says, “Jesus” in a little fish symbol.

I purse my lips, blink my eyes and chuckle to myself. I felt the Lord say, “Good job eventually having the right attitude with the last one. Here’s another one to practise.” Or perhaps even, “This is Me. Jesus. I’m this person. I’m the last person too. Just love.”

Love covers everything. Every situation. Every person. Every circumstance, thought, attitude and action. In the bible, God calls us to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient and forgiving. This is all too hard sometimes. But one thing that helps us do all of them all at once, is love. If you love a person, (the action, not the emotion), you will have a heart for them, you will be thinking of them, considering them, bearing with them, trying to understand them, showing empathy towards them.

I love how teaching as a profession keeps you in check. Or at least gives you a jolt from time to time. I am teaching Colossians 3:12-14 with my Year 3/4 Class at the moment as we practise our handwriting. We focus on a different ‘clothing’ item each week and write and learn scriptures about that particular thing.

This very same week as my ‘Jesus-bumper-sticker-encounter’ was the very same week we talked about ‘grumbling’ and ‘being patient’ at Talking Tuesdays (James 5:7-12), and also the very same week we arrived at ‘Forbearance’ in our handwriting series. Bearing with each other. We talked in the classroom about how that can be bearing with, as in (quite frankly) ‘putting up’ with and being patient with, and it can also mean carrying each other’s burdens.

I would like to add that at the time of typing this into my newsletter template (Friday), I wanted to check that I had written out the scripture at the top correctly, so I visited biblegateway.com. And you’ll never believe what the ‘verse of the day’ was:

Galatians 6:2

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

This was one of the verses I included in my class’s handwriting task this week. If you don’t believe me, here is a screenshot:

 24th October 2025

Forbearance is one of the ‘items’ we are to ‘clothe ourselves’ in. And over all these virtues, put on ‘love’ – as though it’s a big, beautiful overcoat to finish off the perfect ensemble! And then the trickiest bit (or should it be easy?) is to go about your day accordingly.

1 Corinthians 4:15…

For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers. 

The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church and made this very astute observation. Plenty of advisors with limited skin in the game, but very few fathers, who are far more invested with emotion, passion, and commitment.

For almost 20 years, I worked with at-risk young people, overwhelmingly young men. Our aim was to get them into jobs and then help them to hold those jobs. We placed well over 3000 into jobs, mostly young guys. And then we would visit them in their new workplace to encourage them and try to sort out any problems they were facing. Almost without exception, the lads who came to us had no functioning dads. For a myriad of reasons, dad was absent. Most lived with mum and her “boyfriend”.

We grew to realise that one of the most important issues in the life of a young guy was having or not having, a functioning dad. By revelation of

this issue, and by God’s grace, we acted towards them like a good father would act. We were generous towards them as they were mostly broke. We piled on free snacks. We set high standards for their behaviour while at our training program. Areas such as punctuality, dress code, respect for others, use of decent language, and as well, we enthused them with vision for a better future for their lives. We addressed pride, lying, forgiveness, and laziness. There were many more issues, but these mentioned are sufficient for now. We set boundaries for them where for so many of them, no-one had been able to set boundaries. We applied our Christian graces to young guys who needed much grace.

For us, this was a Christian ministry to people in high need. The young guys realised that we were serious about what we were doing, that we cared for them, and that we just might have the answers they were needing in their particular situation.

We had a very high attendance rate, very few dropped out of our program, and we produced outstanding results for our Government funding bodies. We were discreet in our Christian witness knowing that if we went too far and were unwise, maybe things would backlash.

One key to our success, among many others, was that we acted towards them like any good father should. Though they might not have been able to articulate that need, they responded to us with trust, belief, and willingness to get on board. Once we had their confidence, we could then achieve great things with them.

Back to Paul’s comment to his Corinthian friends… Paul’s point was that while many other ministries had interaction with the believers at Corinth, their input was tangential and lacked the relationship that Paul ministered with. He related that he and his co-workers had put up with much deprivation, had suffered ridicule, hunger, and rejection because of their love for God’s people, including the Corinthian Christians. Paul ends that train of thought saying God’s kingdom is not just talk, but a demonstration of God’s love and power.

In many parts of the Western world, there is an absence of effective fathering. Many fathers have had their legs cut from under them, and their confidence rocked by the attack on the male persona. “Toxic masculinity” is waved in their faces. Their thinking has been undermined as to how a good dad ought to act.

Let us all look at how God, our heavenly Father acts. He is always loving, always caring, always encouraging, always wanting us to strive for the best, and He is always forgiving if we mess things up. He corrects when we fall. He soothes us when we err.

Be encouraged dads. You have a great exemplar in God our heavenly father.

I have many strange habits. One of those habits is when I go to a new restaurant, I am willing to try different things on the menu but once I find something that I like, I will always order that particular dish any time that I go to that particular restaurant.

My wife on the other hand seems to like to try something new every time we go anywhere, whether that is food or drink, which totally blows my mind.

I like to think to myself that I don’t try new things because I’m trying to be wise and responsible with my finances and not waste money by trying something that I might not like. However, the truth be told, I’m probably not being wise, but rather I’m worried about the ‘what if’.

What if I don’t like the taste?

What if it’s not as good as what I could have had?

What if I order something that I don’t like and then have to sit there and watch my wife eat something delicious that I really wanted and instead I’m stuck with this experimental goop?

What if?

I think we often allow the ‘what if’ into our lives. We say to ourselves that it is wisdom to listen to the ‘what if’ when in reality we are allowing fear to dictate our decision.

What if I’m rejected?

What if this doesn’t work?

What if I get hurt or sick?

What if that giant problem destroys everything?

God wants us not to be governed by the ‘what if’ but rather the
‘no matter what’.

• No matter what, God can use it for our good and his glory.
• No matter what, God is faithful and working, even when I don’t see it.
• No matter what, God will never leave you nor forsake you.
• No matter what, God will use everything for our good
• No matter what God is our healer and our provider.
• No matter what, God can slay every giant.

No matter what.

Paul says to Timothy, ‘for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind’. (2 Timothy 1:7) God calls us to make decisions by faith and trust him. God is calling us to live a life of boldness and courage, trusting God ‘no matter what’!