Leave the Past Where It Belongs

 

By Andrea Merrell

Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.

The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

 

“Don’t be like the Israelites,” the speaker said. “God led the whole crew out of Egypt in a day—out of the bondage of slavery and abuse. But because they were not willing to fully accept their deliverance and freedom, they wandered in the desert for forty years instead of entering the Promised Land within a few days.”

The woman beside me shivered and stared at the floor as the speaker went on to say, “If you are a child of God, you have been redeemed. Forgiven. Set free. You are a new creation. A brand new person in Christ Jesus. It’s time to let go of your past so you can move forward.

The woman looked at me with tears streaming down her face. “How do I do that?”

My heart broke as I tried to comfort her, especially knowing that so many of us have asked that same question. How do I do that? How do I let go of past sins? Guilt? Shame? Condemnation? How do I walk in the freedom Christ Jesus paid for?

The Word for You Today says:

If you are in Christ, you’re no longer defined by what you’ve done wrong; you’re defined by what Christ has done right on your behalf. You are a new creation, but sometimes it takes time for your new nature to become second nature.

The Bible clearly tells us that when we belong to the Lord, we become new creations—a brand new person. Our new life begins, and the old life fades away.

If you’re bound by the past and struggling to become that new person God created you to be, give yourself time to let your new nature become second nature, as natural as your next breath. Let go of your past and leave it where it belongs—in the past!

Photo by Greg Jewett on Unsplash