YOUR PAST IS IN THE PAST, LOOK TO THE FUTURE

How many of us get caught up in the past? The past is a complicated thing since it can hold wonderful memories of the Glory Days or painful memories that we would rather forget. It doesn’t matter if the past was good or bad, it is still in the past, and you need to concentrate on what is ahead.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to stories about the good old days. I’ve listened to stories about when they were a high school football hero, a homecoming queen, and I even looked through photo albums filled with photos that were decades old. I understand being proud of the touchdowns you’ve scored or how beautiful and thin you were in high school, but living in the past can keep you from living life to the fullest.

I once heard a preacher say something like, “God will never remind you of your past; that is the devil you hear talking to you.” That statement took me a minute or two to comprehend, but now it makes so much sense.

Looking back at old photos isn’t a bad thing; it is only when we hear a voice saying, “you’ll never be the man you were in high school,” or “you were so much prettier then; you’re so overweight and ugly now.” Ummm, the Lord would never say anything like that. Instead, here are a few things that the Lord does say about the past.

Isaiah 43:18-19

¹⁸ “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. ¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Hebrews 10:17

¹⁷ Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

Luke 9:62

⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Philippians 3:13-14

¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The past is in the rearview mirror; your eyes should be on the road in front of you. “Forget the former things, do not dwell in the past, the old has gone, the new is here, I will remember no more, no one who looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, press on toward the goal.” Those are from the Lord, and every one of them reminds you to stay on the path, forge ahead, and keep pressing forward. None of those verses say to remember your accomplishments in the past. None of those verses reminds you of your past mistakes. Instead, He will remember them no more. The hurt and abuse you suffered in the past are behind you; that is not who you are; it is what happened to you.

Living in the past can make you boastful or tear you down. Either way, it is not what the Lord wants for you. Look ahead, press on toward the goal, and wait for the day when you can claim the prize.

To God Goes The Glory!

Have A Blessed Day!