WHEN THE PAST IS PAST

 How to leave the past behind and move on

One trick of the enemy is to condemn us because of the past words or actions. We dwell on what people did or said to us or what they did not do or say. We dwell on what should have been, and what ifs. The enemy instills in us guilt, shame and condemnation. He wants us to remain in the past because he knows that when we are busy obsessing about the past, we cannot see what God is currently doing, and neither can we see what God has in store for us.

There is a difference between godly and worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow brings regret and eventually death; whether spiritual or bodily or both. But godly sorrow leads to repentance and eventually salvation. Worldly sorrow makes us a slave to our past, it leads to guilt, shame, grief, condemnation, and judgement. We begin to identify with our mistakes, we start thinking our lives are a mistake. We become worn-out, depressed, and we lose ourselves. We start listening to what other people are telling us about ourselves. We listen to lies and deceit of the enemy. We lose sound judgement, and the enemy starts controlling our lives.

The enemy cannot handle or face the truth; he looks for counter-arguments; he uses our words and actions to attack us; he accuses us of saying this or doing that; he condemns us; he tells us we are not good enough; he tells us we are nothing; he tells us we are an embarrassment; he tells us no one will ever accept us; he tells us we will never amount to anything; he feeds our minds with lies in an attempt to weigh us down; he tells us we are a mistake.

The enemy is cunning; he tries to gain all the information about us then uses that to attack us; he lies to us that we can trust him, that we can tell him all our fears and struggles. The enemy lies that he will be there for us; he lies that he can be trusted. But, all those are tricks. The moment he gains entry, he starts attacking us; he weighs us down; he guilt trips us; he tells us we are who others say we are; he tells us we will never get up from where we are. After doing all the damage, the enemy then flees and leaves us in ruins, especially when we start standing by the truth.

The truth is, we are not our mistakes, we are not our past, we are not what people say we are, we are not our upbringing, we are not rejects, and we are not what the world says we are. We are who God says we are, created in His image for a purpose. Our identity is found and rooted in Christ.

Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12.

God knew us before we were born, and He predestined us for great purpose. In life, we will make mistakes. Before we accepted Christ, our lives were governed by the flesh. Those who are not led by Spirit are in the flesh. The flesh is after its own satisfaction, and eventually leads to death. When we accept Christ, the old self dies, and we are made new through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We start living a Spirit led life. We are renewed.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 2:9-10.

When we become united with the Lord we become one with Him in spirit. The old sinful fleshly desires die. We no longer crave the things we used to crave, in fact, such things repel us. We see sin for what it really is, we see sin as God sees it; ugly and filthy.

For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Romans 6:6.

We are to honor God with our lives. We are not our own, we are God's. He is the giver of life and everything else there is in this world. Without God, we are not. Without God, we just exist; we become like earth wanderers, without a purpose, seeking earthly pleasures that will never fulfill us. Without God, we are empty. We cannot live without God.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

Most times, we live as if we own ourselves. We live self-centered, materialistic lives. We want more and more. We try to accumulate as much as we can. We treat people like objects that are used to achieve what we want. Many people have grown cold. Many have become careless. Human life has become something to toy with. We do not respect or honor each other. We use and misuse each other. Our lives are led by great fear, whether we recognize it or not. We fear everything including life itself. We fear others, we fear for our future. Most times, our lives are faithless, without which we cannot please God.

The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction. The fear of God means we hate evil.

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Proverbs 8:13.

The whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments. If we are not following God's commands, our lives become purposeless, here today and gone tomorrow.

The past is past; in Christ we are forgiven. God wipes out our transgressions and remembers our sins no more. The enemy has no power over us, we are not slaves to our past, we are new and made whole in Christ. We cannot allow the enemy to condemn us, we cannot allow the enemy to weigh us down, we cannot allow the enemy to destroy our lives with guilt, shame and regret. At the cross is where we lay our burdens. Christ bore it all for us.

In Christ, all our sins are washed away. There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. We break free from past bondage. God fills us with joy and peace.

Blessings.

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