What Will You Let Go Of In 2022?
Admittedly, most of what I have set out as goals in the past have been goals related to acquiring, achieving, and accomplishing rather than ceasing and letting go. After all, our Western culture teaches us that to grow personally and professionally we must acquire new knowledge and skills and to grow our churches and organizations we must achieve results and accomplish goals. And, that is true, but is that all there is to personal, professional, and organizational growth, and most importantly, spiritual growth?
Increasingly, I have come to believe that letting go of some things and the ceasing of others is just as important, and maybe more important, especially spiritually, than acquiring, achieving and accomplishing. And this letting go always feels somewhat like death. Letting go and letting God is in fact a form of dying…. dying to self.
What The Bible Says About Dying To Self
Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:25
Jesus said, I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The grain of wheat must die in order to bear much fruit. John 12:20
What Others Say About Dying To Self
We are dead with Christ, we are buried with Christ, we are risen with Christ; and there is no real spiritual life in this world except that which has come to us by the process of death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. We must die if we are to live. There is no spiritual life for you, for me, for any man, except by dying into it. Have you a fine-spun righteousness of your own? It must die. Have you any faith in yourself? It must die. The sentence of death must be in yourself, and then you shall enter into life – Charles Haddon Spurgeon
The only way we can find ourselves is to deny ourselves. That’s Christ’s teaching. If you try to cling to yourself, you will lose yourself. And of course, the unwillingness to forgive is the ultimate act of not wanting to let yourself go. You want to defend yourself, assert yourself, protect yourself, and so on. – Thomas Hopko
God is not found in the soul by adding anything, but by a process of subtraction. Subtraction and letting go leads us to the Divine depths. When we can let go and “sink into God,” amazing things happen between God and us. There, where clinging to things ends, is where God begins to be. If a cask is to contain wine, you must first pour out the water. The cask must be bare and empty. Therefore, if you wish to receive divine joy and God, first pour out your clinging to things. Everything that is to receive must and ought to be empty – Meister Eckhart
The whole tradition we’ve had of “dying before you die” sounds like martyrdom from the outside, but what you really discover is, it’s the gateway to freedom. Jesus not only tried to point toward what this new life is, but he also took us there and left us with the promise that he carries this, that he takes it on. Any one of us who summons the great courage within us to gird up our loins and die before we die are not left unaccompanied – Cynthia Bourgeault
Death is not just physical dying, but going to the full depth of things, hitting the bottom, beyond where you are in control. And in that sense, we all probably go through many deaths in our lifetime. These deaths are tipping points, opportunities to choose transformation. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people turn bitter and look for someone to blame. So, their death is indeed death for them, because they close down to growth and new life – Richard Rohr
Some Questions To Ask As You Plan Your Growth Goals For 2022
- What will I stop doing? Examples: social media, bad habits, overeating, working late
- Who will I stop seeing? Examples: people who are a bad influence, people who judge you, people who bring you down, people who use you, people who abuse you
- What will I let go of? Examples: control, fears, attitudes, judgements, defensiveness, pride, possessions
Posted on January 11, 2022
