“New Girl”, my favorite comedy on TV right now, took a tremendous risk last week.

No – the show didn’t kill of any of it’s main characters. It didn’t end in some unpredictable cliffhanger. There wasn’t a game-changing revelation.

“New Girl” changed their opening credits.

This may not seem like a show-altering move on the surface. Here’s why it was.

For it’s first 3 and-a-half seasons, this what “New Girl”‘s opening credits looked like:

These credits fit “New Girl” perfectly. The show was pitched as an outlet for star Zooey Deschanel. It was sort of a throwback to classic female-driven sitcoms like “That Girl” and “I Love Lucy”, focused on newly single Jess and the crazy boys she lived with.

Then “New Girl” evolved.

The show outgrew it’s original premise. Instead of being focused solely on Jess, New Girl has become a true ensemble comedy the likes of “Friends” or “Cheers”. It’s even added characters like CeCe and Coach who are pivotal to the cast but not featured at all in the opening.

The title may still say “New Girl”, but Jess’s roommates and friends are just as essential to the inner workings of the show as her.

So, instead of sticking with the outdated opening credits just because they were cute and catchy, New Girl evolved.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The old credits were way better. I hope for next season the show will create a more creative credits sequence that involves the new cast members and the new focus of the show.

Still, I commend the show’s braveness in their decision to evolve.

The word “evolve” gets a bad rap in Christian circles. But I think evolution is a good thing.

In fact, I would even go war far as to say God created us to evolve.

God did not create us to stay in one spot. He intended for us to grow and change.

As we grow closer to Christ, more mature in our faith and deeper in our relationship with Him, we begin to outgrow things in our life.

Things that were special and meaningful and important. Things we held dearly.

Things like Relationships. Friendships. Communities. These are not always meant to be “forever” things.

For example: I am not friends with all of the same people I was friends with in high school.

This makes me sad sometimes. There were a few friendships I thought were going to “forever” that didn’t pan out.

The unfortunate truth is sometimes what was once a great friendship can become toxic. What once built us up can begin to hold us back.

I think sometimes God gives us wonderful and special things that are only wonderful and special for a season in life. At a certain point we grow out of them, no matter how wonderful and special they were. And that’s ok.

Holding too tightly to something we used to love can drag us down.

When we outgrow a relationship, we have a choice to make. Do we remain sentimental for what was special in the past or do we evolve?

I’m not saying anytime a relationship becomes difficult that we should automatically end it. Far from it.

Instead I’m saying that we should be discerning, letting relationships run their course rather than forcing ourselves to keep trying fix things we cannot.

We are not God. We cannot heal every broken relationship.

As we grow our interests change. Our social life changes. Our pursuits change.

Want to hear something funny? There’s a few people in my life I hated in high school that I now consider close friends.

Sometimes you must adjust who you keep in the credits of your life. 

I will miss the original opening credits of “New Girl”. Yet I do not begrudge them for changing.

The characters on “New Girl”, like the show itself, are evolving. They are redefining who they are. They are leaving bad relationships behind and learning to evolve.

I will always miss the relationships and friendships I once had. I look back on the memories and special times fondly. Yet I do not regret evolving and changing.

If you feel like there are people in your life holding you back from growing into who God made you to be, I want you to ask yourself:

Is it time to change who’s in your opening credits?

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