STXWM Blog

As I’ve gotten older, New Year’s Eve has become less and less about getting dolled up and going out and more and more about whose house we’ll hang out at while we play games and guess whose kid will pass out first. The truth is, I’m not much of a fan of New Year’s. Between the disappointment in broken resolutions and it taking the entire month of January for me to remember not to write “2024,” I am a big believer in the “new year, same me” revolution. It’s simpler, it’s more realistic, and honestly, it’s more in line with what I read in my Bible.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a fresh start. I’m here for goal-setting, gym memberships, and that vague feeling of optimism that a new year brings. But let’s be real: the odds of sticking to a resolution for 365 days are about the same as my 8-year-old not calling me “bruh” for a whole day. Not happening. That’s why I love what the Bible says about “newness.” It doesn’t make us wait until January 1st to experience it. God’s mercies are new every morning. Every. Single. Day.

So, if you’re like me and you’ve already broken your resolution by the 3rd of January (or maybe you’ve just made 47 new ones by now), take heart because you’re not alone and you are not a failure. God’s mercies are there, fresh as a morning cup of coffee every day. And that, my friends, is the ultimate fresh start.

Every year, we all go a little crazy with the idea that this year will be different. We’ve got a list of resolutions: lose weight, stop procrastinating, read more, be more patient, learn a new language, start a podcast—whatever. The “fresh start” energy is real; we feel like superheroes for about 72 hours. But by the time the excitement of the New Year’s confetti has settled, reality starts to creep in. The gym? Packed with newbies who are now fighting for the last parking spot. The diet? The leftover cookies from Christmas are calling your name in the kitchen. The “new me” thing? Well, the “same me” seems to be showing up again. And guess what? That’s actually okay.

The idea of the “new year, new me” can be inspiring—until you realize you’re not as “new” as you thought. But here’s where we get to flip the script a little bit. The Bible doesn’t give us the luxury of a clean slate only once a year. God’s mercies are fresh every morning, not just on January 1st. And that’s not just a poetic saying; that’s a promise. No matter how many times we fall short, God is there to pick us up again. Every day is a new opportunity to walk in His grace.

The Daily Reset

Let’s be honest: life is messy. Our plans don’t always work out, our resolutions get buried under piles of laundry, and our good intentions often crumble when the coffee kicks in. But the beauty of God’s mercies is that they don’t expire. Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us: “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

So, if you ate the entire bag of chips yesterday (guilty), or you snapped at your kid when you had to ask them 6 times to put on their shoes this morning (also guilty), guess what? God’s mercies are still fresh for you today. It’s like having a daily reset button that we can press over and over, no matter how many times we mess up.

This doesn’t mean we should give ourselves a free pass to be lazy or live without purpose. It doesn’t mean there’s no value in making goals or working hard to become better versions of ourselves. But it does mean that when we fail—and we will fail—there’s grace. The same grace that gives us a fresh start at the beginning of the year is available every single morning.

You might be thinking, “Okay, that sounds nice and all, but what if I really want to try and do better this year?” I get it. We all want to improve. I’m right there with you. But let me remind you that the “new year, new me” vibe that society sells us is very much performance-based. It’s about the doing—the self-discipline, the grinding, the hustling. It puts pressure on us to be flawless, to show up perfect, and to be the best version of ourselves. And if we’re being honest, that pressure is exhausting.

But God offers us something different: grace. Instead of trying to “be better” on our own, He calls us to rest in Him and rely on His strength. God’s mercy is not something we have to earn or achieve—it’s a gift. When we fall short, God’s grace is there to pick us up. We don’t have to wait until next New Year’s Eve to start over; we get another shot every morning we wake up. This is another chance to move closer to the person God has made us to be.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t strive to be better in the new year. You can still make resolutions! But maybe, just maybe, we should stop making them about our own ability to do it all perfectly. Perhaps this year, instead of trying to be “the new me,” we focus on letting God shape us day by day. Maybe we resolve to accept His mercies every morning, to extend grace to ourselves when we fall short, and to trust that God’s work in us is happening, even when we don’t see instant results.

This year, let’s make the “same me” revolution one rooted in God’s never-ending love and grace. While the world may offer us a “new year, new you,” God’s Word gives us something far better: new mercies every morning.

So, whether you’ve stuck to your New Year’s resolution or have come up with a new one every single day, it doesn’t matter. God is still there, faithfully offering fresh grace to meet you where you are. And that’s the kind of fresh start that lasts.

Happy New Year, friends. Same you, but with new mercies, every day. Isn’t that just the best kind of start?

This idea of new mercies every morning is an invitation to live with audacious faith—the kind of faith that says, “I may not be perfect, but I trust that God’s grace is bigger than my failures.” Audacious faith is the confidence to step into each day knowing that, no matter how many times we fall short, God’s love and mercy are unshakable. It’s about trusting that God is at work in us, even when we can’t see the immediate results. When we embrace the fact that our “newness” doesn’t depend on us, but on His unfailing grace, we’re free to take bold steps, make mistakes, and keep getting back up. Living with audacious faith means we can look at our “same me” confidently, knowing God is making all things new—one grace-filled morning at a time.

Author, Tracie Tevault