Don't Look Back....You're Not Going That Way

 But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 3:13-14 

I like a song by one of my favorite bands, Tenth Avenue North. It's an older song called "You Are More". I've sent it to many friends of mine, and awhile back I sent it to someone who posted on social media, "You are what you do." This person was going through some really tough things in a relationship and some custody issues and it was getting brutal. This person was a person of faith, and I hoped by sharing the lyrics of this song I could lend some hope into whatever was happening within the situation. I've also sent it to someone having to serve time for a few outstanding warrants. I've listened to it myself over and over when needing the reminder that I am "more than the sum of my past mistakes. I am more than the problems I create. I've been remade." 

Friends, we've been remade! Thank God we are not what we "do"!  God loves us so much more than the messes we make and the dumb things we say and do.  He created us for His pleasure. He gave up his son to die for those mistakes He knew we were going to make before we even made them and for the ones we haven't even made yet. I know it seems redundant sometimes to hear this, but God does love us that much. So much that we can't even grasp it and maybe that's why some of us have such a hard time understanding His forgiveness too. 

 John 3:16 For God so LOVED the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. 

He wants us to give Him all the messes we make, be completely repentant in our hearts for anything we've done or said to sin against Him, others, or ourselves. Once we do that, He forgives us. We are to receive that forgiveness and not repeat the sin. It's really that simple. He washes the slate clean and we start again.

For I will forgive their wickedness and I will remember their sins no more. Hebrews 8:12

The third step of that equation is that we need to then forgive ourselves, and perhaps that is the part with which some of us struggle from time to time. There are some things I know I can declare victory over, and there are still some areas I know I have to keep forgiving myself over and over again. The battlefield is in the mind and the enemy loves to remind me of every little thing I've ever said and done wrong. 

Satan delights in bringing up our old mistakes and hurting us with them. He will even use people to do his dirty work for him. You may run into an old friend or an old crowd and they may still associate you with your old behavior or past personality. You have to remain strong and remain the remade person in Christ that you are. You can't let his tricks fool you. God has forgiven you and it's time to move on. Even if people on the outside don't know the "new you". Even if people discuss you behind your back. Even if people believe the worst about you. You and God know the truth about you and that is enough. Move on and keep going forward. As the quote says, "When Satan brings up your past, remind him of his future". 

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past  Isaiah 43:18

 God gave us grace when he showed us favor and kindness when we certainly didn't deserve it. When we extend that same grace to others, we are showing God's love to them. We are saying to them, "hey, I see you and the purpose you serve. I don't see your mistakes." And what a wonderful gift it is to let someone know that you see who they are and not who they used to be. When we decide to stop doing background checks and looking in rear view mirrors, we will find there are far more productive and joyful things in our futures. 

If we are in Christ, we are not who we "used to be". We are now who Christ says we are!

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians 3;12