Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Cor. 15:58

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Friday, July 15, 2011

Day 27: Let the Past Be the Past

Philippians 3:13-- No dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing-- Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

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Paul (the writer of Philippians) had a pretty good reason for wanting to forget the past.  When he was Saul, he was instrumental in horrible, horrific things against the Christians/Gentiles.

But Paul knew, as we should, that once God forgives a sin-- He will forget it.  NEVER think on it again.

We have to be the same way with ourselves.  Everyone has a past.  Some seem worse than others.  Pray about YOUR past-- ask for forgiveness--- and then-- forget it.  If someone brings it back up again say, "I was a different person then." And TRULY mean it because it's true!  You WERE a different person then.  Everytime God forgives you, you become new again. 

Focus on what's ahead.  Focus on all of the blessings ahead of us... focus on the blessings going on NOW.  Not the past.  The past is gone... can't change it no matter how hard we try.

Sometimes I think back on some of my mistakes and I cringe.  Not that I've ever done anything 'bad', but there are some things I wish I hadn't of done.  I can see the mistakes I made now.. even when I didn't see them then.  I need to pray and let MY past be in the past.

Can you do the same?

Depression can result from dwelling on the past because its IMPOSSIBLE to go back and change it.  There is no time machine that can take you back to 1998 and undo something. It's not possible.  So dwelling on something that can't be changed is pointless.  Focus on the now.  Focus on your blessings NOW (and you have them... even if you don't realize it).

You may not can change the past, but you CAN forgive it (Others.. AND yourself!) and move on-- looking toward the future with a new, clean, hopeful heart.

God Bless You!

Kelly

3 comments:

  1. Hi Kelly. Such an excellent post. The past just bogs you down anyway. I like that you say - pray about YOUR past, good one!
    Have an awesome weekend
    God bless
    Tracy

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  2. You too, Tracy. I do wish we had the power that God does to forget the past mistakes. That would be awesome :)

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  3. Such an important thing to do, but soooooo hard.

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