Leave the past behind
Some people spend their lives living in the past. They keep thinking about what happened and asking themselves “what if…?” The truth is that whatever happened in the past cannot be changed. There is only one thing we can do with what happened in the past: learn from those experiences and move forward.
Living in the past will only assure one thing: you will never be able to live the present.
There are two characters in the bible that took different paths after facing failures in their lives: Judas and Peter.
They spent three years with Jesus. They heard the teachings of Jesus. They witnessed the miracles of Jesus. And they both failed Jesus.
Judas betrayed Jesus (Matthew 26:14-16). But instead of forgetting the past and moving on…
When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse … “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood”…Then he went away and hanged himself. – Matthew 27:3-5
Judas knew Jesus teachings about forgiveness and love, but instead of living according to what he learned, he allowed the failures of the past to destroy his future.
Peter told Jesus that he would give his life for him (John 13:37). But the night Jesus was arrested he forgot about his own words and denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:69-74). He certainly felt bad for what he did.
Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken… And he went outside and wept bitterly. – Matthew 26:75
However, he didn’t allowed his failures of the past to affect his future. He decided to keep going and hold on to the promise of forgiveness.
God knew that Peter needed special treatment. After the resurrection the angels told the women who went to the tomb: “Go and tell the disciples, and Peter…” (Mark 16:7). This was a message for all disciples, but specially for Peter. Later Jesus appeared to his disciples and met with Peter. He asked Peter three times if he loved him, achieving two purposes: first, for Peter to understand that he still loved Jesus; and second, for Peter to understand that Jesus still trusted him to be the leader of the church.
God understands how we feel about our failures, but He does not want us to live in the past . He wants us to know that in Jesus we have forgiveness and the promise of an abundant life.
It doesn’t matter what our failures have been, we can have forgiveness in Jesus.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9
So, lets forget about the past and move to the future that Jesus won for us.
…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
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