Seeking Renewal: Bible Verses about New Beginnings

Our ability to forget in favor of new beginnings just might be one of the greatest blessings we’ve been given. Sometimes the past is a network of scars, and no rose-tinted glasses can stir up longing for days gone by. People carry many scars with them, whether literal or figurative. Having those experiences ever before them is an added weight to their everyday struggles.

Forgetting can help us cope with our past that’s wounded us. However, one remarkable thing about God is how our mourning and pain can, in His delicate hands, be transformed into wells of strength and hard-won wisdom.

What was meant for evil and destruction, God can overturn and use for good and to accomplish His purposes. Joseph said this to his brothers after they had sold him into slavery and God used Joseph to save many (Genesis 50:20). God can provide us with new beginnings even when things seem to be at an end and there’s no hope.

Why we need new beginnings

Everyone has a past. That past is often filled with pain and regret. Some has been inflicted upon us by other people, or we have inflicted pain upon others. Sometimes it is through our own decisions that we bring pain upon ourselves. Pain and regret can leave you feeling stuck.

Whether you feel unable to have a romantic relationship because of what a former partner did to you, or whether you are roiling in resentment toward a person who’s in your life right now, the result is the same. Being stuck like this can make you unproductive, and it takes away from your flourishing as a person.

We need new beginnings because we are broken people living in a broken world. Other people’s brokenness gets inflicted upon us. This could be from an abusive parent or spouse. Similarly, our brokenness affects those around us. For instance, we may have anger issues and behaviors that harm others. The fact that we are not perfect does not mean we are without value.

We are dignified beings of untold worth and are capable of so much. However, the Bible’s storyline reminds us that without God’s intervention, we cause harm to ourselves, others, and His good world. We need a savior because we’re in a mess and we can’t get ourselves out.

The good news that Jesus came to proclaim is that God is intervening to rescue us from ourselves. We are no longer trapped in our rebellion against God and His designs for us. Jesus’ coming into the world was a new way of life.

It is life abundant, joyful, peaceful, and whole. It breaks into our way of life that is marked by pain, death, isolation, and disconnection. This is the new beginning we all need, the root of all new beginnings we can have in this life.

Bible verses about new beginnings

When speaking about new beginnings, the Bible doesn’t focus so much on a change of circumstances as the source of a new beginning. Rather, more often than not, the renewal of one’s mind is what allows one to see their circumstances in a whole new light.

For instance, while believers are not to seek persecution or revel in it, they are urged to be joyful even in hard circumstances because of the endurance and maturity that result from faithfully weathering storms in your life (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:3-9).

This doesn’t mean that there are no new circumstances, or new beginnings that come from changes you make to your surroundings, but it does highlight that new beginnings can occur even when nothing has changed in your situation.

This brings hope because you don’t have to change your job, your income bracket, your wardrobe, your weight, or your marital status to experience a new beginning. You don’t need a makeover to begin life anew, gain the courage to do new and hard things, and experience joy.

If your joy isn’t rooted in your circumstances, then it is hardy and cannot be easily taken away from you by other people or by a change in circumstances for the worse. Some of the Bible verses that speak about new beginnings include the following:

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. – Titus 3:3-7, NIV

If you were to describe yourself before believing in Jesus, what words would you use? Writing to one of his proteges, Paul describes himself as once having been foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. Paul was a religious leader who followed the Law, or Torah, and yet he describes himself this way.‬‬‬‬

Sometimes, we are blind to who we are, and it takes an act of God for us to see ourselves as we are, not as we think we are. These verses speak to the kindness of God who gives us a new birth, a new beginning, by the Holy Spirit. We are freed from all sin that previously bound us, and we are brought into a new family in which we are heirs to everlasting life.‬‬‬‬

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! – 2 Corinthians‬ 5:16-17, NIV

These verses declare that a new reality comes into being when a person is in Christ Jesus. Left to our own devices, we tend to have a limited vision of life and everything else. We don’t see value in those who don’t benefit us or those that are antagonistic toward us. We see things from a point of view that’s foreign to God’s Kingdom. ‬‬‬‬

When God opens a person’s eyes and leads them to faith in Jesus, they are transformed into new creatures that see things in a different light. They see Jesus for who He truly is, and they see others around them with new eyes.

We need to be created anew because our old way of living did not bring us flourishing. Paul’s words here echo and are a fulfillment of these words from the Old Testament: “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. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27, NIV)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. – 2 Corinthians 4:16, NIV

Walking the journey of faith in Jesus doesn’t mean you escape hardship and difficult circumstances. Relationships can continue being difficult, opposition will arise against you, or you may struggle with an aspect of your character that isn’t aligned with God’s values and intentions for your life. ‬‬‬

Paul, who was shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned, and rejected, acknowledged his being affected by hardships and negative experiences, but he did not allow them to define him.

Instead, Paul recognized how God was using those hardships to renew him by maturing his faith and growing his dependence upon Him. Outwardly, his body was battered and bruised, but inwardly he was experiencing constant renewal.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we often need a reset every day. Even after we are saved, we continue to make mistakes and revert to old habits. 1 John 1:8-10 reminds us to confess our sins, and God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Another passage reminds us: “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, NIV) Every morning, you can turn to God to draw upon His compassion and be strengthened and renewed for another day.‬‬

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘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!” – Revelation‬ 21:1-5, NIV

There are burdens that we carry that often sit with us and that we wrestle with throughout our lives. It may be pain inflicted upon us as children, or even as adults. Sometimes, to carry us through the daily struggle of bearing that pain, we can look forward to the fulfillment of John’s vision.‬‬‬‬

Sometimes we need to have hope in a place where God makes all things new, and wipes away every tear from His people’s eyes. That hope for a new heaven and new earth, a world in which the old things no longer have a hold on us, can sustain us in dark times.‬

God provides us with new beginnings, and we can enter this newness here and now. It takes time and effort to understand all that God has made available for us and to translate it into how we understand ourselves and live our lives.

Christian counseling for embracing change

You can seek help from a Christian counselor, as that too is part of God’s provision for our good. One role that a Christian counselor can play is to help you unpack your places of pain or stagnation, help you understand healthy ways of making new beginnings, and to help place God firmly in the center of your healing and renewal.

The counselors in our office are ready to help you discover your new beginning. Call us today to get started.