Today is New Year’s Eve, which is a time usually focused on the hope and possibilities of the year to come. It is a day that tempts us to focus only on putting the past behind, trying to forget the disappointments, failures and struggles of the year ending, and letting bygones be bygones.

But faithful leaders seeking to lead with faithful integrity in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles, and priorities need to resist the urge to look only forward. It is important to remember–to remember lessons learned and God’s interventions and blessings.  It is important to meditate–to meditate on how God guided and provided for the leader and the organization.  It is important not to forget God’s goodness and faithfulness.

Remembering is not backward-looking nostalgia; it is the foundation for gratitude, faithful leadership, and resistance to forgetting. Scripture is full of reminders about the importance of remembering–remembering what God has done.  Here are just a few:

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. (Psalm 143:5)

Remember the wonders He has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced. (Psalm 105:5)

Soren Kierkegaard captured the importance of looking both forward and back on New Year’s Eve”

It is quite true what philosophy says: that life must be understood backwards. But then one forgets the other principle: that it must be lived forwards. (Journals, IV A 164)

Looking Back Cultivates Gratitude

Remembering and meditating on what God has done is an opportunity for gratitude.  We devoted post #263 (Integrity Idea 071: Grow Gratitude) to the idea of implementing practices to help employees experience feelings of gratitude. Remembering and meditating on God’s interventions, blessings, guidance, and provision for the faithful leader and the organization in the year that is ending is an opportunity for a faithful leader to experience and express gratitude–and the Bible is clear about the importance of being thankful:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100:4)

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:20)

As we detailed in post #263 (Integrity Idea 071: Grow Gratitude), a simple internet search of “gratitude” and “wellness” or “flourishing” will reveal much scientific evidence of the benefits of gratitude exercises.  Modern research is increasingly confirming what Scripture has long taught. Tyler VanderWeele, Director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, concludes that:

Evidence from numerous randomized trials (thoroughly analyzed in this meta-analysis) suggests that this simple activity of focusing the mind on what is good in one’s past or present can help increase happiness, relieve symptoms of depression, and perhaps even improve sleep.

We believe looking back with gratitude also serves to grow humility.  Humility is one of the four first principles embedded in the word Integriosity^® and the subject of post #196 (First Things–Humility).

Humility is knowing who you are in relation to God’s creation and His plan, knowing who you are in relation to others, and knowing who you are in relation to God.  Looking back at God’s faithfulness and goodness can help a faithful leader remember that someone else or something else is the source of the goodness recognized.

Looking Back Enables Faithful Leadership Going Forward

As Kierkegaard emphasized, life must be lived forward. Remembering and meditating on God’s past faithfulness and goodness can help a faithful leader look and lead forward.

Hebrew scholar Dr. Skip Moen shared an insight on the Hebrew concept of time that helps tie together the two elements of Kierkegaard’s observation–looking back and living forward:

The Hebrew concept of time is like a man rowing a boat.  He sees where he has been, but the future is toward his back. . .. We have as our guide what we see, the course we have been following – the past.  We see the past because we are facing it.  The past is in “front” of us.  No wonder our history with God is so important.  It is not just about where we came from.  It is the visible guide for our course into the future. This is the reason that our past history with God is so important . . .. If we have the right markers in the past, we do not need to see the future direction of our rowboat.  By keeping on a course that uses these markers as bearing points, we know that we are going in the right direction even if we cannot see where we are going.  It is not necessary to see the course of the future because our future is merely an extension of the same line we have taken with God in the past.  Those of us who know God will know that we are on the right course because God’s faithfulness marks the way we have already come and God does not change course. Those of us who are not using God’s markers for our course will have no idea if we are rowing in the right direction.  We will have no history that shows us a faithful, straight line.  We will end up trying to row a boat in the fog.

For a faithful leader pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, remembering and meditating on God’s past faithfulness and goodness in the past year is critical to leading with faithful integrity in the new year.

We have talked about the four steps of Integriosity^® in the pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing: RENEW, RE-IMAGINE, RE-ALIGN and RESTORE.  The second step involves faithful leaders applying their Renewed understanding of God’s purpose for work and business to develop a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture for their organization.

Looking back in leading forward reflects and reinforces an organizational culture that prioritizes three of the five key ingredients for implementing a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture: trust in God, prayer and patience.

Remembering God’s past goodness and faithfulness can help a faithful leader trust in God’s goodness and faithfulness when facing a new challenge or difficulty, rather than trusting in the false gods of business as usual (e.g., impressive people and money), because those false gods seem to be bringing success to others, because the world is telling them those false gods are the only path to success, and because the world is telling them that they are fools for trusting in the fictional God of the Bible.

Remembering God’s past goodness and faithfulness reminds a faithful leader to pray to God about work situations, rather than worshipping the world’s false gods. Sadly, many faithful leaders do not associate God with organizational decisions.  Oswald Chambers observed:

In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives.

Remembering God’s past goodness and faithfulness can help a faithful leader have the patience to wait for God’s answer to their prayers, rather than resorting in their fear to the false gods in which the kingdom of the world trusts.  Leaders faced with an important decision or a crisis may feel compelled to act or respond quickly before seeking wisdom from God.  It is often difficult to pause and reflect.  Rick Warren writes:

[Y]our biggest temptation in the middle of a crisis is to be impulsive. . .. It takes nothing at all to make a quick choice. It takes a lot of wisdom to make the right one. A wrong decision is wrong, no matter how quickly you make it. So step back, take a deep breath, calm down, and talk to God.

Looking Back Guards Against Forgetting

In a recent sermon, pastor Andries Coetzee, warned:

When we forget . . . we act out of forgetting. When we remember, we act out of remembrance.

The 40-year journey of the Israelites is a lesson in the dangers of acting “out of forgetting”–forgetting what God has done in the past. Consider a few examples:

They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them. In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. (Psalm 78:11-12)

They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt. (Psalm 106:21)

But when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me. (Hosea 13:6)

Scripture treats forgetting not as a passive failure, but as an active spiritual danger. In Scripture, acting “out of forgetting” is never neutral–it can lead to lack of trust, distorted memory, pride, and idolatry. Just consider these examples:

Forgetting can lead to a lack of trust: “Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.” (Psalm 106:7)

Forgetting can lead to distorted memory: “And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full.'” (Exodus 16:2-3)

Forgetting can lead to pride: “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18)

Forgetting can lead to idolatry: “They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf… and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” (Exodus 32:7-8)

God warns in no uncertain terms about the danger of forgetting, “And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.” (Deuteronomy 8:19)

We devoted post #262 (Integrity Idea 070: Set Some Ebenezers) to the idea of a faithful leader following the example of Samuel and creating tangible reminders of times God has helped the organization and its people. It recognizes that most people easily forget (and some people never even know or comprehend) God’s interventions and blessings, particularly when facing new challenges or difficulties.

Acting Out of Remembering

Acting out of remembering leads a faithful leader toward business a better way and the way of God’s Kingdom through trust in God, prayer, and patience; forgetting pulls them toward the familiar instincts of business as usual and the way of the kingdom of the world—scarcity, fear, pride and trusting in money and impressive people.

In order to act out of remembering, a faithful leader must first remember what God has done in the year ending. In order to remember what God has done, a faithful leader must first recognize what God has done.  In order to recognize what God has done, a faithful leader must first look for God’s hand in circumstances and people.

Oswald Chambers observed:

We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.

As a helpful guide to looking for God’s hand, consider these ways in which God can use circumstances and people to intervene, bless, guide and provide:

• Opening paths: Creating opportunities or paths through challenges.

• Closing paths: Removing potential options or opportunities.

• Planting seeds: Providing ideas for new opportunities or strategies.

• Overcoming obstacles: Removing obstacles, providing strategies to overcome obstacles, or creating alternative paths around obstacles.

• Providing clues: Providing ideas or strategies for pursuing opportunities or overcoming challenges.

• Giving guidance: Providing advisors to help lead with faithful integrity, pursue opportunities or overcome challenges.

• Delivering blessings: Providing people, connections, opportunities, finances, or other resources to help in the faithful leader’s pursuit of faithful integrity toward Biblical flourishing.

• Teaching lessons: Using people or circumstances in ways that build trust, develop wisdom, or encourage patience in ways useful in the faithful leader’s pursuit of faithful integrity toward Biblical flourishing.

• Praying: Providing people to pray for the faithful leader and the organization.

It is looking for the divine markers from last year that will help a faithful leader keep the boat headed in the right direction, or allow a faithful leader to correct its course, in the new year–the markers that will reflect and reinforce an organizational culture that values trust in God, patience, and prayer.  In the words of Dr. Moen:

Rowing backward into the future is no problem at all if we allow our inner independent witness to constantly correct our view of the markers God leaves us in the past.  Lining up all the points will always bring us on course – a straight line that will continue into the future because God’s faithfulness will keep it straight.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM): Remembering is not abstract; it is personal and relational. A few years ago, I delivered a talk to NCS Manhattan titled “Looking Back, Living Forward“.  You are probably familiar with the term “BFF”–“Best Friend Forever”.  I did an inventory of my “BFA’s”–the “But For Angels” in my life.  They are the people God used to guide my path–“but for” their intervention, wisdom, encouragement, and provision, my life may have taken a different course. I don’t believe in coincidences. As you begin 2026, I encourage you to take an inventory of the people who have impacted your journey.  Then give God thanks.

ESSENCE: New Year’s Eve is a time usually focused on the hope and possibilities of the year to come. It is a day that tempts us to focus only on putting the past behind. But faithful leaders seeking to lead with faithful integrity in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles, and priorities need to resist the urge to look only forward. It is important to remember lessons learned and God’s interventions and blessings.  It is important to meditate on how God guided and provided for the leader and the organization.  It is important not to forget God’s goodness and faithfulness. Remembering is not backward-looking nostalgia; it is the foundation for gratitude, faithful leadership, and resistance to forgetting. Acting out of remembering leads a faithful leader toward business a better way and the way of God’s Kingdom through trust in God, prayer, and patience; acting out of forgetting pulls them toward the familiar instincts of business as usual and the way of the kingdom of the world—scarcity, fear, pride and trusting in money and impressive people.  In order to act out of remembering, a faithful leader must first remember what God has done in the year ending. In order to remember what God has done, a faithful leader must first recognize what God has done.  In order to recognize what God has done, a faithful leader must first look for ways in which God has used circumstances and people to intervene, bless, guide and provide. It is looking for the divine markers from last year that will help a faithful leader keep the boat headed in the right direction, or allow a faithful leader to correct its course, in the new year–the markers that will reflect and reinforce an organizational culture that values trust in God, patience, and prayer.

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Photo Credit: Original image by Paul Michalski using ChatGPT
(photo cropped)