Do you ever wish you could erase your past? Or at least a selected portion of your past? We all wish at times we could forget something wrong that we did or that was done to us, and that we could make all those around us also forget. If I could patent selective amnesia I'd be a wealthy lady indeed! But I can't, nor can you! Pushing the past down and smothering it ends up smothering us instead!
Sometimes the more we try NOT to think about it, the more focus we direct toward it! Those thoughts just keep bombarding. God's plan for moving forward always involves facing the past and acknowledging the sin, the pain, and the fallout. Pain only increases when a root of bitterness springs up (Heb 12:15). To move forward requires that the past is released.
Why would you want to hold on to the painful past? Shame keeps it hidden for many, too ashamed to face sin. Anger and the right for vengeance holds a strong grip for others who think it feels right to balance the scale. Perhaps fear prevents others from facing the one who has hurt them, choosing to live with shame for fear of more shame. Negative emotions only complicate life and lead to a downward spiral.
To move forward means dealing with sin and experiencing God's cleansing (1Jn 1:9), moving forward as with the fresh snowfall! It means forgiving, repeatedly if necessary (Lk 17:3-4), letting God deal with those who have sinned against you, and continuing to respond in a godly way regardless of how they behaved (Rom 12:9-21). It means letting love for God and others overpower fear so the issues can be faced and resolved (2Tim 1:7). When a person chooses God's solutions to un-complicate their life, an upward and forward movement begins!
It's time, don't you think, for a fresh start? Christ and His Word will move you in the right direction if you let Him! Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassion's fail not. They are new
every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" Lam 3:22-24
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