No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT).
I have a past. My journey back to God began with a pack of cigarettes and an offer to teach a Sunday School class. I was saved at nine, but I was now in my early twenties and had been experimenting in forbidden but enticing areas for around ten years. Forget what God wanted. I wanted what I wanted. And I fervently ran after it. By the time the offer disembarked, I had put aside my questionable activities-except for tobacco use. After all, the Bible didn’t say, “Thou shalt not smoke.” (But it did say my body was a temple of God’s Spirit).
The question instigated anxiety and excitement simultaneously: “Would you teach a young adult Sunday School class?” I agreed but felt ashamed when I stood before my pupils with cigarettes nestled in my shirt pocket. God overwhelmed me with guilt, and I suppose that’s why I was able to lay them aside without medical help.
I. Conquering the Past Means Conquering Guilt.
Guilt is either false or real. Mine was genuine. I had an issue needing attention. The guilt of God’s people in the Old Testament was no less real. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared (Hebrews 10:2 NLT).
As God graciously accepted those faith sacrifices and granted the worshipers forgiveness, so he did for me when I laid aside my damaging habit. Guilt is real when experienced because of unconfessed sin, and repentance is the only proper path of action to absolve it. Fortunately, God doesn’t require perfection, but neither will he use us when we consciously choose to wallow in disobedient lifestyles. If you’re experiencing genuine guilt over sinful practices, repent and choose a different course.
A couple of years later, I was a young adult feeling God’s call into ministry who was also feeling guilty. God’s call came on top of ten years of running and accumulated guilt-over ignoring the original call, bad decisions, bad relationships and bad habits. While all repented of, their memories tormented me. And Satan stoked the fire: “How could you claim to be a Christian and…?” Guilt can be genuine or false. Real guilt arises when God convicts us of sin with the intent we change courses. False guilt channels through the same path, but the author is Satan and his goal is destruction.
Paul had a string of reasons to feel guilt over his past, but he didn’t. His past included consenting with those stoning the first Christian martyr and also dragging Christians off to prison to be persecuted and perhaps killed. When Christ called him as a missionary, he could have absconded because of guilt over his past, but he chose to forget the past because it was forgiven. I did too.
God doesn’t require a spotless past to give us a bright future. Skeletons lurk in everyone’s closet. Some have more and others less, but they hang around nevertheless. The only ones that hinder God using us are those we haven’t turned our backs on. God doesn’t hold my past against me. He uses me in spite of it, and he’ll do the same for you. Don’t let false guilt over past mistakes keep you from God’s intended purposes in the present.
II. Conquering the Past Entails Receiving God’s forgiveness and Genuinely Believing He Gives It.
“I’ve asked God to forgive me, but I’m not sure he has.” Or “I’m just not sure God can use me with a past like mine.” Statements I’ve thought, heard or made but statements reflecting a misunderstanding of God’s forgiveness.
I have a past. I’m not proud of everything in it, and I’d gladly relive it, but I can’t. It is what it is. On the other hand, I’ve learned a great deal from my past mistakes and use personal examples to caution others about blunders and sins better left alone.
Only when I grasped the full extent of Christ’s forgiveness did I completely comprehend that my past doesn’t prevent God from using me in the present-even if others think it does or try to use it against me. There is one verse among many that reminds us how important Christ’s sacrifice was. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time (Hebrews 10:12 NLT).
A part of conquering pasts we aren’t proud of is understanding the comprehensive forgiveness received through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Old Testament believers continually brought sacrifices because their forgiveness was based on a future event-the death of Jesus. When brought in faith, God accepted the sacrifices and granted forgiveness, but they never felt forgiven because the ultimate price hadn’t been paid. Now that it has, we can be confident God has forgiven every sin we have or ever will commit. They’re all covered by Christ’s blood. Forgiveness doesn’t bring perfection, but knowing all our sins have been cleansed gives us assurance our past can’t hold us back.
III. Conquering the Past Means Focusing Forward
To conquer our past we must focus forward as Paul did. I noticed her trudging through the parking lot, hopping up and down over the grassy medians as she tried to avoid the deluge of cars meandering alongside her.
We don’t live in a large town, so the sight of a young woman carrying a backpack half her weight and three-fourths as tall as she was was peculiar. All she possessed or wanted was snuggled uncomfortably on her back. Curiosity made me wonder…Who is she? Where is she headed and why? Is she a criminal running from the authorities or a runaway with parents worrying themselves sick? Is she escaping a bad relationship or undecided about who she is and what her future holds and on a journey to find the answers to both?
Of all I didn’t know, one thing was certain. She would never reach her goal if she returned to wherever or whatever she was leaving. Nor will we. Paul understood this. Focusing on undesirable events in our pasts hinders forward progress by dividing our minds. God desires to share his future for us with us, but continually wallowing in regret over past mistakes and sins he’s already forgiven prevents us from hearing him clearly. Conquering undesirable pasts entails focusing on what’s ahead not what lies behind. Regret drains the energy required to forge ahead into God’s future. Believing God has forgiven our past revitalizes us and gives the optimism necessary to see what we haven’t yet experienced. Ask God to keep you focused forward.
IV. Conquering the Past Involves Living Above Our Insecurities.
She was a farm girl whose future looked as dim as her present. Frankie was an only child living with a stern father on a small farm where they both slaved from sunup to sundown. She had no time for girly pursuits and wore the clothes of her trade: overalls and boots. Her hair was plainly brushed and her face unadorned.
Then Frankie met Ellie who was startled by Frankie’s unfeminine appearance. She began taking female “doodads” to the farm for Frankie, but it took several angry encounters with her father to convince him that dolling Frankie up was more advantageous. A future husband would be of more help than Frankie. Because of her past and present conditions, Frankie struggled with insecurity.
So did everyone before Christ. Sacrifices brought little security as the writer of Hebrews notes. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped…and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared (Hebrews 10:2 NLT).
Security is one of three basic human needs. We yearn to know we’re loved unconditionally. Being raised by parents who gave us conditional love messages, living with abusive spouses, working for employers who constantly threaten our jobs, and a few financial meltdowns can all raise our antennas of insecurity.
Regardless of what we faced in the past or experience in the present, God’s unconditional love and acceptance can enable us to overcome feelings of insecurity. He loves us completely because he created us, not because we have spotless track records. While he establishes standards he expects us to obey, he doesn’t cast us aside when we fail. He has perfect love for us. Ask God to help you comprehend his unconditional love so you can face the future with confidence.
V. Conquering Our Past Involves Realizing Our Debt to God is Unpayable.
After months of praying, we left for our mission field but quickly discovered things weren’t as rosy as they first appeared.
Shortly after arriving, we realized the compensation wasn’t what we assumed, yet we faithfully served the people and community believing God wanted us there. Times were demanding. We were forced to half our payment to one debtor just to make ends meet. Over the next two years, our debt to this creditor accumulated until it finally reached an unpayble amount. We had to make a difficult decision-leave or stay. After receiving God’s affirmation, we left our mission field. Fortunately, a wonderful representative who understood our situation intervened on our behalf and wiped away our unpayable debt.
Our debt to God is similar. Thousands of sacrifices only served to remind God’s people their debt was unpayable. But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year (Hebrews 10:3 NLT).
When we trust in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, God forgives each and every sin. Our resulting good works are not payback but evidence to others that we’ve experienced God’s goodness and mercy. Conquering a past filled with regret involves being cautious about why we perform our good deeds. Serving others with charitable practices because we’re attempting to repay God demonstrates our misunderstanding of forgiveness and also keeps the past alive. If we could have satisfied our sin debt, Jesus’ sacrifice would have been unnecessary. Our acts of love should demonstrate appreciation for God’s mercy-not be an attempt to repay him. Once we confess our debt and receive God’s forgiveness, we can put the past behind us. So conquer your past and move ahead into God’s bright future.
