Friday, March 9, 2012

Let Go of the Past

by Aleta Kay

         Most of the people I know tend to get into arguments and sling every slight, sin, indiscretion, or stupid or inconvenient thing the other person has done back in their face. Yet, when the other person does the same to the first person, the first gets very irate. Why is that? Why do we expect others to treat us better than we treat them? Why do we expect to be given a pass on our past while feeling the freedom, even right, to cram the past into their faces like last  week’s garbage?
          Many other people just live in the past. My mother used to brood for days over the hurts and slights inflicted on her during her childhood. She would make life miserable for the rest of us for sometimes two or three days.  It controlled her life.
          We all have places in our lives that seem to control us and we have no idea how to gain control over them. We give ourselves excuses or we beat ourselves up for our failures.  We blame others, society, the way we were raised.  We keep ourselves in our own self-made prisons.
          Is there any hope? Is there a remedy? How do we stop the madness?
          First of all, you must recognize that all of these problems are actually sins. Anger is sin. Bitterness, dejection, hatred, self-abasement (negative pride), pride, dredging in the past and slinging all over anyone, but especially those we’re supposed to love, are all sin.
          Secondly, the remedy for sin is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only prophet who ever lived who is also God incarnate. He is the only one who ever took our punishment for sin (John 3:16), was crucified, buried and rose again that He might give us eternal life (Romans 6:23).
          What are we to do with this knowledge? Believe that He is God; believe that He took our punishment, died in our place, rose again, and will come again to take us to live with Him some day.
          When we believe these things we must talk to Jesus. Tell Him we are sorry for our sins. Ask Him to forgive you. Ask Him to take away your anger, pain, bitterness, rage, etc. Give them all to Jesus (Matthew 11:29).  John 8:32 says, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  Jesus said in John 14:6, “…I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Jesus is the truth. He is the only way to get to God. He is the life that transcends all of our problems and sins.
          Once we have accepted these things and have asked Jesus to live His life through us, to be our Lord and Savior, we need to do what the apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:13, 14: “…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
          You may be able to affect change by yourself for a while, but without the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s counselor and helper living inside you when you ask Jesus to save you, it won’t last. Psychiatrists and psychologists are expensive and rarely work. Jesus doesn’t cost us anything and He works a lot faster than all of those other “counselors.” Let me know how you’re doing. I care. E-mail me at themarriagementor@yahoo.com. Just put “blog” in the subject line. You don’t have to sign it and I won’t contact you back unless you request it.                                                                                                                                                                                   

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