New Year New You Pt 2 Letting Go of Things that Hold Us Back

New Year, New You – Part 2: Letting Go of What Holds Us Back
(Hebrews 12:1)

Most of us want change, but far fewer of us want to let go. Even when something is holding us back, familiarity can feel safer than freedom. In this message, we explore why real spiritual growth so often begins not with adding more effort, but with releasing what no longer belongs.

Hebrews 12 calls believers to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us.” Some of what weighs us down is sinful and enslaving, while other things are not wrong in themselves but still slow our walk of faith. Comfort, distraction, control, busyness, and misplaced security can quietly become spiritual weights, making faith harder than it needs to be.

Scripture shows that God has always moved His people forward by asking them to let go. From Abraham leaving his homeland, to Israel learning to live free after Egypt, to the rich young ruler who struggled to release what made him feel secure, the pattern is consistent: release comes before renewal. Letting go often feels like loss at first, but faith reframes that loss as freedom.

The sermon also speaks honestly about the danger of secret sin—habits and behaviors hidden from the light that quietly enslave the heart. The gospel does not minimize sin, but it offers real freedom through confession, repentance, accountability, and daily dependence on Christ. Jesus does not expose sin to shame us, but to heal us.

Ultimately, letting go is not an act of self-effort but an act of trust. Faith is choosing to believe that what God offers is better than what we are releasing. As we fix our eyes on Jesus and trust Him step by step, we discover that no one who has entrusted God with what He asks them to release has ever found Him unfaithful.

As a new year continues, this message invites us to ask a searching but hopeful question: What am I holding onto that’s making faith harder than it needs to be?