NEW YEAR REFLECTION (ISAIAH 43:18)

SCRIPTURE

ነቲ ቐደም ዝነበረ ኣይትዘክሩ፡ ነቲ ናይ ጥንቲ ኸኣ ኣይትሕሰቡ።
“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.”

REFLECTION

Isaiah does not speak here about forgetting history, but about abandoning a former way of life. In the life of the Church, remembrance is sacred when it is ordered toward God, and destructive when it binds the soul to sin, regret, or pride. This command to forget is a call to repentance.

Each year, many speak of becoming new, yet the desire for change is often directed toward material improvement rather than spiritual renewal. External goals are pursued while the inner life remains unchanged. Isaiah confronts this false renewal. The “former things” are not merely past events, but former identities shaped by negligence, passion, and disobedience.

True newness does not begin with ambition or motivation. It begins with confession. In Orthodox life, the past is not erased through self-confidence but healed through repentance. Kneeling, fasting, prayer, thanksgiving, and obedience gradually strip away the old man and restore the soul to proper order.

To forget the former things is to refuse captivity to what has already been confessed and forgiven. Sin no longer governs the present. The mind is renewed when it turns away from what is fruitless and fixes itself on what is eternal.

Isaiah 43:18 prepares the soul for disciplined renewal. The new year is not entered with reinvention, but with deeper submission. Spiritual growth becomes not a seasonal desire, but an identity shaped by faithfulness.

THEOLOGICAL FOCUS

Repentance. Renewal of the mind. Putting off the old man.

LITURGICAL MEANING

This verse belongs naturally to ordinary time and the turning of the year. It teaches that renewal in the Church is not emotional rebirth, but sustained repentance. Life is reordered through obedience, not novelty.

PRACTICE

Confession and repentance. Consistent prayer and fasting. Watchfulness of the mind.
Ordinary weeks form endurance. Renewal here is quiet, disciplined, and lasting.