So I wanted to talk a little bit about something that's been on my heart lately. I recently ran into my past and it got the best of me. I found out that somebody was around that I thought was gone forever, and I was lied to, and things just didn't go well. It's when we face hardships that we see where our heart really is.
I am realizing that I am the kind of person who holds onto things. Rather than letting go of the things that haunt me, I put them in the back of my mind and go day to day. And it works, until I run into it all again.
In Philippians, Paul writes a letter to the church in Philippi. One verse in particular really sticks out to me.
"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14
When we are told to forget what lies behind us, that doesn't mean we are to bury it in the back of our minds and just move on. We are to completely surrender it and accept what has happened. I have learned the hard way that burying our past only hurts us in the end.
Paul had a past that he wasn't proud of. He persecuted followers of Jesus and tried to destroy the church. But he didn't bury it all and pretend it didn't happen. He admitted in this verse that he did not make it alone; it was through Christ that he was able to move on.
I think what I'm beginning to realize is that life sucks sometimes. We do things we shouldn't, we regret them, and sometimes suffer extreme consequences. But we have to be willing to admit that. The sooner that we are willing to admit we've done something wrong and admit that we're not okay, the sooner we allow Jesus to come in and completely transform us.And the best part is-you're not alone! Jesus wants more than anything to be by your side, helping you through all the messes of your past! If you don't learn to let go of your regrets, life will continue to move on and you'll be stuck in rewind.
So release your past. Try it. I promise you'll love the outcome. You'll be a happier you.
I'm Christy, and I'm not okay. But I'm not hiding that anymore, and I am learning to be okay.
Good thoughts, Christy! I totally agree that letting go can be hard. Actually, I believe it's impossible. And yet, what is impossible with man is possible with God. Only when we take these things to Jesus do we begin to learn to overcome them, not be conquered by them, and to thrive in Jesus' arms-- even (and especially) when the world seems to be crashing in around us. Have you learned anything that would be helpful to share, about how to leave those things with Jesus? Because that seems to be the hard part...
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