Start Where You Stand
A New Year Message from Myrtle House Community Church
At our New Year service this Sunday, we paused together to reflect on a question that sits at the heart of every fresh start: what are we really resolving to do with our lives?
New Year resolutions are nothing new. Every January people make plans to get fitter, save more money, break bad habits, or achieve personal goals. There is nothing wrong with making plans. But the challenge Bill brought to us was simple and searching. Most resolutions are focused inwardly. They are about improving ourselves, protecting our comfort, and increasing our own wellbeing.
What if, this year, we chose something different?
Instead of another self-focused list, what if we made a decision to look outward? What if our primary resolution was not about us at all, but about the people God has placed around us every day?
Bill shared a powerful quote from C.S. Lewis: “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.” Those words remind us that, apart from remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross, the most sacred calling we have is to value and love our neighbour. The people we encounter in ordinary places, at work, in our streets, in the shops, and in our families, matter deeply to God. They are not interruptions to our plans. They are part of His plan.
Scripture reinforces this again and again.
Leviticus 19:18 commands us, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.” Jesus Himself echoed this in Luke 10:27, saying that we are to love God with everything we are, and then to love our neighbour in the same wholehearted way.
Throughout the New Testament the message is consistent. Romans 13:9 tells us that all the commandments are summed up in this one instruction: love your neighbour as yourself. Galatians 5:14 calls it the fulfillment of the entire law. James 2:8 describes it as the royal law of Scripture. And 1 John 4:21 makes it clear: anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
So the invitation to us as a church family was practical and down to earth.
If we claim to be Christians, we are not meant to prove it with words alone. Jesus said in John 13:34-35 that people will know we are His disciples by the love they see in us. We are called to demonstrate kindness, generosity, friendship, patience, and deep, genuine care. We are meant to love in a way that people actually feel loved, not as a theory, but as a lived experience.
That is where true transformation begins.
Berton Braley wrote a poem with the phrase “Start where you stand.” Bill used those words to challenge and encourage us. The best place to begin loving your neighbour is exactly where you are right now. You do not need a grand strategy. You do not need perfect circumstances. You simply need a willing heart and a readiness to act on what God says.
Romans 15:1-3 reminds us that even Christ did not please Himself. He lived to build others up. And 1 Peter 4:8 urges us, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
As Myrtle House Community Church, our mission statement is to live in His love and to live it out. That is not just a nice line for a banner. It is the calling of the church. We are meant to be alive in our community, demonstrating the power of God through the way we treat people.
Imagine what could happen if we truly embraced that this year.
If we make a resolution to love God fully and love our neighbours intentionally, the Kingdom of God advances. People begin to ask questions. Lives get touched. Faith becomes visible. And God walks alongside us as we step into His purposes.
So as we begin 2026 together, the message was clear.
Start today. Start simply. Start where you stand.
Let’s allow this New Year to be marked by real, Christlike love that makes a difference to every person we meet.
