Fresh Starts Require Fresh Thinking
When was the last time you drank out of a wine skin?
When was the last time you drank from a wineskin?
For me, it was probably thirty years ago, if it happened at all.
I remember a conversation with a business coach who said to me, “Think beyond this presentation. Think ‘new wine skin’ to launch you into the new chapter He has for you.”
His words really stuck with me. It took a few days of thinking to understand what he meant.
As I work to redefine my creative agency’s purpose and clarify how we serve clients, I keep trying to fit my new ideas and approach into the old way I explained what makes us different from other creative firms.
Even my wife—who is also my business partner and best friend for over thirty years—didn’t fully understand what we do until I made it simpler. She saw what we did, but she wasn’t sure why or how our business stood out.
Then I finally had a breakthrough. It felt like a moment of real clarity.
My “new wine” is the latest book I’ve written, which lays out a clear framework for branding, marketing, and audience engagement for the trades.
If you’re looking to reinvent yourself or your business, you can’t fit your old thinking into a new framework. A new purpose and outlook need a whole new way of thinking and working.
In the same way, as followers of Christ, we can’t hold on to new thoughts, values, and behaviors while still living the old way.
New wine goes into new wineskins because, as it ferments, it stretches the skin. If you use an old, dry wineskin, it will burst.
We have to let go of the old and make the changes needed so the new wine can reach its full potential in a new wineskin. New business directions and new life always require sacrifice.
It sounds simple, but it’s not always easy. We spend years building habits of thought that shape every part of our lives. Still, Paul reminds us in Romans 12:2 to “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”
It’s not really our “new wine.” When we adopt God’s way of thinking and let Christ guide our thoughts, both in our lives and in how we run our businesses, it pleases Him.
Lord, remind us today to think about the new life you’ve given us and to act and live in a manner that pleases you. Lord, refresh us as we drink deeply from your truth, and to realize that the life you want for us won’t fit into our old ways of thinking, lifestyle, or way we manage the businesses of which we are stewards.