Welcome to the For the Gospel Podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn. And whether you're listening to this on your favorite podcast platform or you're watching on our For the Gospel YouTube channel, I'm really thankful that you've joined me for the final episode of 2025. Here we are, and here we go. Most people end their year with a lot of noise, a lot of distraction, party, maybe some self-improvement hype. But I want to focus for us on ending our year with worship, reflection, repentance, gratitude, and gospel-powered resolve. And so before the year comes to a close, I want to walk you through five habits that are simple, they're powerful, they're biblical as well, and they're going to help recalibrate your heart and anchor your soul for 2026. I think if you take this list seriously that I want to put before you, then it can change the trajectory of your spiritual life or just strengthen and renew it. So let's begin. Number one, remember God's faithfulness. If you're going to end any year the right way, you want to look back on what God has done. Psalm 103, verse 2 says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits. One of the greatest threats to your joy is going to be spiritual amnesia. One of the ways that you can grow in 2026 and relish in what God's done here in 2020 is remember it. I think we forget how often that God has helped us and how many sins he's forgiven, how many prayers he's answered, how many trials that he's carried us through, the little details that we overlook. And so we will worry, we'll fear, we'll drift. And pretty soon we get stuck in anxiety because we're forgetting all that God has done, or we're just not even trying to remember it. One of the ways I try to remember God's faithfulness is by making lists of what he's done in any given year. We learned early in our walk with the Lord, this kind of practice can be really helpful. It's amazing how many things can be recounted if we take some time to think about his goodness. I remember one year we did this on a poster board, my wife and I, we filled it to the edges. And what was so humbling is that it was a hard year. And we started to do this exercise. I didn't think that we could fill it that much, only beginning then to realize how much God had done and all the little things that we normally overlook, his goodness, his grace, his provision here, there, and everywhere. And all of a sudden it was filled to the edges. And I ran out of room, but I had even more things to thank God for. And so before the year ends, take some time to write out how God has shown his faithfulness to you in 2025. You can think about prayers that he's answered, strength he's given you in suffering, people he brought into your life, and hey, people that he removed from your life, provision that you didn't expect, temptations that he helped you escape, scripture that sustained you, and maybe ways that he has shaped your character and more. You can thank him for so many things, even just the breath in your lungs and the opportunity to live another day, another year. Now, some of you for sure survived the hardest year of your life. Others, you maybe experienced one of the most blessed years of your whole life. And maybe some of you are in between that spectrum. I think whatever your station or mine, a Christian can point to God's steady hand. And when you remember his past faithfulness, it will fuel your future faith. What I mean by that is trusting the Lord. If you remember what he's done, well, you're going to be very faithful and trusting in the days ahead, no matter what the future holds. And so bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget none of his benefits. The cry of our heart as 2025 winds down and 2026 is on the horizon. Number two, repent of your sin. I would be a failure to you here for the gospel, if as part of your review of 2025 and looking forward to 2026, did not involve repentance. I think about 1 John 1:9 and how much we need this passage in our lives every day. It says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. The word just meaning he's faithful and righteous. God is holy and he's just and he's pure and he's trustworthy. He can and will forgive you and I of all our sins as we confess them to him. We are strengthening our relationship to God. And one of the most, one of the most loving things that God invites you and I to do any day, but also at the end of a year, is just come clean and get our hearts honest with him. What are the ways that you grew this year? What are the ways that you struggled? What are some of the sins that you want to see God sanctify in the year ahead that for you has been a battle or a war zone this year? Repentance is not God punishing you with guilt and shame. It's God purifying your heart and purging you of anything that would come between you and his relationship. And so ask yourself, where have I resisted the spirits leading this year? Where have I been on cruise control or lazy? What habits have been choking out my joy? What secret sins have I excused? What behaviors have I said, ah, well, that's just their fault or them? What am I blame shifting? Repentance is not the enemy of your joy, it's the doorway to it. And I think sometimes we get a little nervous with the idea of confession and naming our sins because we are afraid of the awareness and not stealing our joy when in reality it fills us with joy because our conscience clears and our fellowship with God deepens and the soul can breathe again. And so don't drag the same mentality into 2026. Don't drag the same sins or nurse the same sins, whether it be bitterness or impurity or compromises, uh, anger, apathy, whatever it is, before the day is done, before the year is done, repent to God, bring your sin to Him, humbly, biblically, truly. And the Savior who died for you stands ready to forgive you, cleanse you, and strengthen you. So make repentance a part of the way that you close out your 2025. Number three, release your burdens to Christ. I would imagine for you, I know for my life, there's things that I have concerns about in 2026. There's goals that I have, there's unknowns that lie ahead. And 1 Peter 5, 7 tells us, cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. We need to look to the Lord and be honest with the heaviness that we carry, heavy with fear, heavy with doubt, heavy with sadness, heavy over maybe your financial situation, your marriage, your children, your health, maybe your own battles with sin, maybe the conversion of loved ones. You're believing God and begging God to save people that you love. Maybe it's a work situation or a living situation. I just want to encourage you to spend time in prayer and give those burdens to God. Tell Him everything about your anxiety, everything about your fears, your health, your money, your decisions, your future, your weakness, your kids, your marriage, all of it. And use the gift of prayer more than ever before in 2026. And that can start right now in 2025. It doesn't need to be about New Year's resolutions. You just step right into it here and now. And that way you're not dragging today's burdens into tomorrow. You don't have to. Jesus will carry what you cannot. He cares for you far more than you and I. Maybe we realize it because scripture says it, but more than you and I act. He cares for us so much. Let's not make that just a theory. Let's live it out in our practice and starting with prayer. A new year without a burden transfer is just a date on the calendar, but a new year with a burden transfer, meaning you're, you're, you're giving all that over to the Lord, oh, that's a spiritual reset. And so if you want to make new year's resolutions count, if you want to go into this new year and say, I'm I'm believing God for certain things, or I want to be strengthened and renewed spiritually in certain ways, then you've got to turn burdens over to Christ as part of that. You can't just carry everything and then make a list and say, I'm gonna do this, be better, and I resolve to this, that, and the other. You got to let Christ carry what you were never meant to. Fourth, refocus your priorities around Christ and his kingdom. Some of you look back on this year and you see a lot of you, and there's a lot of success for you, or a lot of anxiety for you, a lot of burdens for you, a lot of just you, you, and more you. Matthew 633 reminds us: seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. And then Matthew goes on to explain what Jesus is saying, and all these things will be added to you. What are these things? Food, clothing, shelter, your provision, all of that. And so before the clock strikes 12 on 2025, take stock of your priorities. What have I been concerned with? What have I been obsessed with? What have I used my time to do? And look, I'm not talking about your goals, okay, when I say this, not your goals. I'm talking about your priorities. See, goals will change. We're always changing goals. Add new ones, accomplish these, add new ones, accomplish these. But priorities, priorities anchor you. And so you got to ask yourself these three questions if you're gonna really look at your priorities and the kingdom of God. What must I stop doing? I need to identify what's been draining my soul, what is distracting me, what habits are leading to compromise in my relationship with Christ? Is there anything pulling me away from him? Well, it's gotta go. Number two, what must I start doing? You got to identify what spiritual practice or relationship or discipline needs to be taken seriously. Who are the people you need to spend more time with and who are the people you need to spend less time with? What habits need to be formed in order to replace the bad habits that have depleted you in 2025? Set some goals and set deadlines for these. We always say around our parts, goals without deadlines are just dreams. And so don't talk the talk, walk the walk, set a deadline. Third, what must I continue doing? I think it's important to identify what God has used to bear good fruit in your life and protect that and pray for more of it. And then thank God for all of it. And I frame these things up so specifically because I find that clarity beats resolutions. I'm not against New Year's resolutions. I think they're great. I have them. I always make a list of things I want to do better or I resolve to do more of in 2026 or in a new year. But clarity beats resolutions. You gotta be really specific. And scripture calls us to be intentional and specific about kingdom-centered priorities. And so get a journal, get a legal pad, pull out, you know, your notes app or whatever you use and list out the ways that you want to strengthen and prioritize your kingdom commitments in 2026. Number five, renew your commitment to God's word. There is a wonderful song. And I want to turn there. If you're watching this, you can just hit pause and turn with me or read the words on the screen that we'll have there for you. If you're working out or on a walk or on a run or you're doing some cleaning in your house, or maybe you're just on the go right now, I'll read it to you. But Psalm 1 reminds us that prosperity and success, and I mean true, spiritual success and spiritual prosperity, a life that is prosperous, the right kind of prosperity, flows from meditating on God's word day and night. It says, How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. Look at those categories. He doesn't walk in the counsel of, meaning he doesn't follow the counsel, the advice of wicked people. He doesn't stand in the path of sinners, meaning he's not found in the way of the wicked. People who just sin and go on sinning and do what they want, however they want, whenever they want. I'm not in that path. I'm not on that road. Or sit in the seat of scoffers. You're not sitting there. You know what a scoffer is? A scoffer is a mocker, a gossip, a slanderer, these people that mock just a pagan anti-God attitude, and in general, just a hateful, spiteful, bitter attitude, just scoffing at everything. No, you don't sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. So he loves the word of God. And in his law, he meditates day and night. So his days begin and end with the law of God. That's what he's thinking about. What's he gonna be like? Verse three, he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water. It yields its fruit in its season, so it's healthy. Its leaves do not wither. Okay, it's not dying off. And in whatever he does, he prospers. Why? Because he's rooted in the Word of God, rooted in the ways of God. And so you can't live a new year with an old diet. If your soul has been starving, you got to feed it. Good fruit, the word of God kind of fruit. If you've been distracted, you refocus by meditating on his law day and night. If you've been inconsistent with things spiritually, you're not going to be a tree firmly planted by streams of water unless you reset and get back to the word of God. There's no point in having a better body this year if you aren't spiritually healthy. There's no point in looking your best and succeeding at work and setting goals that are financial and achieving them all if you are spiritually bankrupt. And so maybe choose one of these for 2026. Find a church and make it a weekly priority and sit under the preaching of God's word and make sure it's a church that's biblical. We have a video that I released just a few weeks back called How to Find a Church. It's on YouTube. And I sit down with Dave Matthews, one of the brothers in our church, and we talked through that video. It's about 13 minutes long, and it might be one of the best setups for you if you're looking for a church. You need to be in the right church and sitting under the preaching of God's word. There are lots of amenities that can be secondary and good things, but if the word of God is not being preached faithfully, or the guy's pulling punches or being soft, it's not going to be helpful for your spiritual life. Strong pulpits make for strong people. Another goal, read through the whole Bible. Read through the devour scripture. Maybe study a particular book very deeply. Go through the Gospel of John or the Gospel of Matthew or the book of Romans or the book of 1 John. All of those are great places to start. And take a deep dive and don't worry about your daily reading plan and checking your box, although that can be helpful if you're going through an annual plan. But you're going to say, hey, I'm spending three months in this book, six months, maybe my whole year in the life of Christ, in the Gospel of Matthew, or the Gospel of John or the Gospel of Luke. Another one, memorize one passage per month. Take a chunk of scripture, memorize it. Do a Bible reading plan with your spouse or your family. Listen to Scripture daily on your commute instead of sports talk radio every day or some random playlist on Spotify or just getting in your own thoughts and driving yourself crazy, just talking to yourself on the freeway in traffic. Listen to scripture, listen to a Bible app where it just reads the Bible. And also a ministry like ours is here for you. Add the for the gospel podcast or FTG articles or our YouTube content to supplement what you should be getting in your local church and in Bible study and use them as spiritual boosters, spiritual supplements and dig into an article and make it part of your family devotions, or watch a video with your small group and then discuss it. But all of these things will help you make the word of God your foundation. And your stability, your joy, your discernment, your holiness, your endurance in 2026 is going to rise or fall based on your relationship to the word of God. Jesus is the word, and spending time with him in prayer is a great way to just saturate your life with his presence through prayer and communication with God. And what else? Scripture. And this is where we got to get away from. This idea that, you know, the Bible and prayer, the Bible in prayer, like I get it, Costi, give me some practical things. That's practical. That's it right there. Spending time communing with Christ in prayer, and spending time communing with Christ through the Word, and He is the Word. He will speak to you through it. And so end the year by renewing your commitment to the book that will give you life and change your life. And all of these things, remember the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation. And the same gospel that saves you is the same gospel that sanctifies you. And so you and I in 2026, we don't ever want to graduate from the gospel. We don't want to overlook the gospel. We want to be reminded of it every day and we go back to it every single day. And that's my commitment in serving you through this ministry. We are for the gospel because that's the good news that God uses to save and sanctify people for his glory. And so, my goal, one of my goals that has deadlines on it, because it ain't just a dream. One of my priorities is to ensure that our resources will continue to be a building block for your faith and strengthen you as you grow in the Word of God in 2026. Providing sound doctrine for everyday people is what we've done. It's what I'm going to continue to do because, well, God changes lives through the gospel and his word. And his word is the power source for any life change. So if you have big goals and big priorities that you want to see unfold and succeed in those in 2026, I'll just tell you, friend, and my answer on this will never change. How do you do it, Gosti? How do you figure it out? Or how do we execute or how do they the word of God that's the power source for everything that is significant or quote unquote successful, the things that matter, spiritually successful things, that's the source for all of it. So give your life to prayer, communing with God, and spending lots of time in His Word. Happy New Year. Thanks for all your support. Everything that you've done to support our ministry has made all of what we do possible. And so if you are one of those people, you've been a gospel patron, you've given one time, you give monthly, seriously, it makes a huge impact. It matters, we care. I hope that our ways of saying thank you just show you a small token of appreciation and how much we love you and enjoy being partners with you in gospel work. If you're listening or watching and you'd like to give an end of your gift or partner with us monthly in 2026, you can go to forthegospel.org, click give. All the information is there on the giving page. But most of all, from my family and yours, on behalf of our entire team here for the gospel. Happy New Year! I'll be back next Monday with a brand new series to kick off 2026. Keep on living for the gospel.