Stuck in the Past
All of us struggle with regrets. We have all made mistakes we'd like to forget, but the past cannot be changed. Most of us are able to move on, but some people get stuck in the past and have trouble accepting that God has forgiven them. Tragically, they cannot move forward with their lives and receive the joy and peace the gospel promises.
The apostle Paul had a troubled past. His history as a persecutor of the church is well known. He had participated in murder and imprisoned men and women simply because they were Christians (Acts 7:58; 8:1-3; 9:1-2). Despite his horrific past, he was able to move on to become a great proclaimer of the gospel. He said, “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” (Phil. 3:13-14). What was his secret?
Paul was well aware of the egregious nature of his sin and his unworthiness, but he also had a strong faith in the power of the cross to redeem sinners. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Tim. 1:15).
Is your past holding you back? What can you do to move forward? Here are two suggestions.
1. Focus on what you learned. Some of the best lessons are learned from the mistakes we have made. True wisdom comes through experience, and many times that experience has been negative. By learning from your failures, you keep your past from becoming a total waste and get smarter so that you will not repeat your mistakes.
2. Try to look at the past from a different perspective. Cormac McCarthy said, “Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real. The events that caused them can never be forgotten, can they?” Forgotten? Maybe not. Misremembered? Yes!
In his book, Thinking Fast and Slow, psychologist Daniel Kahneman points out that our memories are all we get to keep from the experience of living and that many times our memories are flawed. We don't always remember the past the way it actually happened. Usually, our emotions highlight the worst parts and minimize the good. If you are one of those people who replay painful memories in your head over and over again, try to look at the situation from a different perspective. The same story can be told countless ways and still be true. If the current version you’re telling yourself is upsetting, look at it another way that can help you learn from your mistakes and move forward.
God doesn't want you to be stuck in the past. He sent his Son to die for you so that you can move forward. Living in the past is a refusal to accept the gospel’s gracious promises. Trust God enough to leave the past behind and move on.
Drew Kizer