"For many, it is difficult to accept that the past has passed."

A thought by Craig Groeschel, from his book, The Christian Atheist: When You Believe in God But Live as if He Doesn’t Exist (p. 54). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

We are now in the January, the first month of a new year but many people are still living last year or even farther back years.  They had done something in their past and the shame of it is still being lived and it is affecting them in this new year. Maybe that is you or maybe someone you know.

Craig earlier says, “Shame usually follows a pattern— a cycle of self-recrimination and lies that claims life after life. First, we experience an intensely painful event. Second, we believe the lie that our pain and failure is who we are— not just something we’ve done, or had done to us— and we experience shame. And finally, our feelings of shame trap us into thinking that we can never recover— that, in fact, we don’t even deserve to.”

As Craig says, “For many, it is difficult to accept that the past has passed. Sometimes, it’s so hard just to leave it there, where it belongs. But until we do, we cannot make peace with the present or walk into the future with hope.”

He goes on, “Once we accept the unchangeable past, we must embrace that God can change our future. While we may always remember what happened, we need to believe that we are not what happened. We are who God says we are— new creations (2 Cor. 5: 17). When we reject what our shame says about us, we can finally hear what God says about us. He is working in all things to bring about good in our lives because we love God and are called according to his purposes (Rom. 8: 28).”

Later Craig says, “Once a broken bone heals, it is often strongest at the point of the fracture. In the same way, God can take the shame of past failures and amazingly redirect their outcomes toward your future success. I betrayed my college friends. In fact, I routinely cheated on girlfriends. Deep down I wondered if I could ever be faithful to one woman in marriage. By God’s power, he took the shame of my past, forgave me, and made me better than new. My one-time weakness was replaced with an equal and opposite strength. My faithfulness to my wife, in every respect, is an important part of my story. What was previously a deep sense of sin and shame, God used for good.

“He’s eager to do the same in you.”

Will you come to him and let him begin the process in you today?