Lately I've been bombarded with reading and discussions about people's pasts. How to deal with the past, letting the past go, forgetting about the past; these are all pretty common discussions when it comes to our pasts. But there is something about the way many Christians speak about past experiences and issues that has always bothered me a little. Actually there are a few things when I really consider it.
First, is the idea that "God forgets our past." This is just flat out lame. We're talking about God here. He doesn't just forget things okay. The Bible tells us that he has numbered the hairs on our head so the idea that he lets our indescressions slip his mind is just absurd to me. He remembers everything. He remembers your birthday, He remembers where you left your keys, He remembers your next appointment, and He remembers the day you guys met. So He certainly remembers that time you "got so wasted you couldn't even stand-up." The Bible talks about a judgment according to our deeds. It's known as the Bema Seat Judgment. Everything you've ever done will be on display and while the impure, selfish things we all did will not be held against us, they will be present.
The second annoying thing we do sometimes as Christians is to perpetuate the idea that we should forget our past or let it go. Why would I want to do that? My past is what has shaped the person I am in the present. All my failures and junk and deep dark secrets are included in that. Stop trying to let your past go. First off, it's impossible. You can't. Everything you are today, you are because of something that happened yesterday. To let your past go would be to let who you are escape you. Maybe this is why so many Christians have an identity crisis at some point. We paint on our plastic smiles and pretend everything is okay because we're going to church and we have to appear at peace. What everyone doesn't know is that we were just arguing with our spouse on the way to church because of his porn addiction or her lack of self-control with spending money. Forgetting our past or the softer version of, "letting it go," leads us to a dark place. Some people even tells us to just, "give it to God." What does that even mean?
Your past makes you who you are. Don't let it go. Claim it. Own it. All of it. The junk, the joy, the failure, the success, the ugly, the dirty, the gritty, the beauty. It's all you and it's okay. Remember that you own your past, it doesn't own you. So all that garbage that you want to forget about, all the crap we hate about what we did or didn't do this time or that; own it. But let it be your PAST. Sometimes we have to drudge up all our crap and wade in it for a while. It's part of being human. It's part of letting God deal with us from the inside out. Romans 5:8 tells us God died for us "while we were still sinners." He loves us enough to get down and wade in our crap with us. He's willing to get dirty WITH us and help us find our way through the junk. He doesn't pretend it's not there and neither should we.
First, is the idea that "God forgets our past." This is just flat out lame. We're talking about God here. He doesn't just forget things okay. The Bible tells us that he has numbered the hairs on our head so the idea that he lets our indescressions slip his mind is just absurd to me. He remembers everything. He remembers your birthday, He remembers where you left your keys, He remembers your next appointment, and He remembers the day you guys met. So He certainly remembers that time you "got so wasted you couldn't even stand-up." The Bible talks about a judgment according to our deeds. It's known as the Bema Seat Judgment. Everything you've ever done will be on display and while the impure, selfish things we all did will not be held against us, they will be present.
The second annoying thing we do sometimes as Christians is to perpetuate the idea that we should forget our past or let it go. Why would I want to do that? My past is what has shaped the person I am in the present. All my failures and junk and deep dark secrets are included in that. Stop trying to let your past go. First off, it's impossible. You can't. Everything you are today, you are because of something that happened yesterday. To let your past go would be to let who you are escape you. Maybe this is why so many Christians have an identity crisis at some point. We paint on our plastic smiles and pretend everything is okay because we're going to church and we have to appear at peace. What everyone doesn't know is that we were just arguing with our spouse on the way to church because of his porn addiction or her lack of self-control with spending money. Forgetting our past or the softer version of, "letting it go," leads us to a dark place. Some people even tells us to just, "give it to God." What does that even mean?
Your past makes you who you are. Don't let it go. Claim it. Own it. All of it. The junk, the joy, the failure, the success, the ugly, the dirty, the gritty, the beauty. It's all you and it's okay. Remember that you own your past, it doesn't own you. So all that garbage that you want to forget about, all the crap we hate about what we did or didn't do this time or that; own it. But let it be your PAST. Sometimes we have to drudge up all our crap and wade in it for a while. It's part of being human. It's part of letting God deal with us from the inside out. Romans 5:8 tells us God died for us "while we were still sinners." He loves us enough to get down and wade in our crap with us. He's willing to get dirty WITH us and help us find our way through the junk. He doesn't pretend it's not there and neither should we.
I am who I am today because of my past. All of it. But I don't have to let my past dictate my present and control my future. Because Jesus is in it with me. Helping me find my way out. Because He knows that if I pretend it's not there, I might just drown in it.
1 comment:
I think it's smart to learn from our pasts. I think a lot of people shove down things they want to forget they did, which leads to never working through it. I may hate going through old journals and reading about how stupid I've been before, but I'm really glad I've learned from my mistakes.
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