“Where you come from is not nearly as important as where you are going.” Those words, appearing on a plaque in my office, arrested my attention after a time of prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to guide me as I sought a living Word from God for Embrace Church, the fellowship I serve in High Point, North Carolina.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the words on that plaque are a call and a challenge to leave our past behind as we look forward to walking with Jesus “on the edge” in 2023.
In light of that, I’d like to ask you a question. It’s a very personal question and one that demands serious reflection on the part of each of us - Where do you come from? Or, to put it another way, what is your past?
There’s no getting around it; your past has played a large role in shaping you into who you are today. Every one of us has experienced things in our past that are good that are bad, and, to be honest, some things that are downright ugly.
I experienced one of these ugly things in my recent past. My eldest and I got into a knock-down-drag-out argument that ended with both of us saying things that, whether true or not, were out of line. The entire family suffered as a result. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
The good news is we kissed and made up within a few hours, but I still feel terrible about what happened. I’m sure she does too.
But that argument is in the past. The challenge for both of us is to move forward and put that past behind us. And I can assure you from past experience we will. (This wasn’t exactly a first in our relationship!)
I want you to hear me when I say that your past is just that; it’s your past. Yes, it has shaped you and played a major role in who you are today. But your future? Well, that’s up to you!
The choices you make, the things you choose to embrace, as well as the things you decide to let go; these are the things that pave the way for your future.
Will it be easy? Is it ever? Nothing in this life is easy. Remember what Job said, “As surely as sparks fly upward, man is born to trouble.”1
This world is not fair; it’s not just; it’s not kind. And it will rip your soul out if you let it.
So, let me say it again - It won’t be easy to leave your past behind, to shake off some of the things that have shaped you. And the truth is some of those things, whatever you do, well, they’re going to stay with you. Part of who you are has been shaped by your past.
But let me say it again; your future is up to you.
Let me close this post with a quote by one of my favorite authors, Peter Enns. In his book, “The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable To Read It.”
Here’s the quote -
“The past informs the present, but it also serves the present. When the present serves the past, we are stuck in nostalgia, longing for the good old days — a sure recipe for emotional and spiritual dysfunction.”2
Whether we look at our past with nostalgia and longing or whether we look at it and blame it for who we are today, the fact is, that’s not healthy.
And so, it’s up to you and me to choose to move forward, to live in the present, and to look to the future. And again, no, that’s not easy. But it’s worth it!
In tomorrow’s post, I’m going to share a couple of passages of Scripture that teach us just that.
In Christ,
Dan
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Job 5:7.
Peter Enns, “The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable To Read It,” p. 57. I HIGHLY recommend this book for those who feel like I do, that there is an unhealthy focus among Christians today about “being right” as opposed to “living right.”