Your Past Does Not Define Your Future
Posted in Brandon's Posts, jesus, new creation 0 comments
I have found myself sucked into a new show this Fall. It is called Revolution. I'm a sucker for adventure, and the whole idea of all the power going off and civilization as we know it being redefined absolutely has me on the edge of my seat.
In this week's episode we found out that one of the main characters was one of the founders of the Monroe Militia (the military run, self-proclaimed government and salvation for all). Years prior he had realized his mistake and turned away from that life. He saw the monster he helped make and refused to live that way anymore.
After finding this out, some of the other characters still treated him like he was a terrible person. My wife and I were confused. We kept telling the TV (don't pretend you don't do this) that he was a changed man!
Chances are, you have been on one side or the other of this kind of situation. Either there has been someone in your life who used to live one way and now they don't but you have difficulty seeing passed their past. Or, you have changed and someone else has difficulty seeing you as anything but who you used to be.
It is really easy for us to listen to the voices, either from others of our own, that tell us the mistakes we have made in the past define who we are now. Too often I have talked with others who have said things like, "I wish I didn't live this way but that is just who I am I guess."
We too easily listen to the lie that tells us we are worthless because of the mistake we have made. This is not the message of Christ! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" We are more than the sum of our mistakes.
We must start living differently and believe that we are no longer who we were before. The woman who had lived in sin believed this. This belief is what led her to wash the feet of Jesus. She didn't continue living in her sin, even though that is exactly what everyone expected her to do. Instead, she went to Jesus, weeping because of the person she had been, but decided to serve Christ.
Leave the old life in the past where it belongs. You no longer live like that. You are a new creation.
Something that sounds a little cheesy but actually works is telling yourself everyday you are who you want to be. Let me give you an example. If I weigh 210 lbs (still being the modest 5'6 I am) but I have made the goal of running a 5K in under 30 minutes and I want to lose 50 lbs then I need to start telling myself, "I am a runner." I need to change my entire mindset. "I am a healthy person." This is not so I can live in some delusional state, but so I can begin living the life of a runner or healthy person. It is the same way with our walk with Christ.
I am a new creation.
I have been saved by grace.
I am no longer a slave to sin.
I am a godly example to my wife and kids.
I am a Youth Minister who is in the Word for my spiritual growth daily.
By telling myself these things, it is easier for me to believe them and to actually live them out. I am not the person I used to be, and that person does not define who I am today. My identity comes from Christ and today I live for Him.
In this week's episode we found out that one of the main characters was one of the founders of the Monroe Militia (the military run, self-proclaimed government and salvation for all). Years prior he had realized his mistake and turned away from that life. He saw the monster he helped make and refused to live that way anymore.
After finding this out, some of the other characters still treated him like he was a terrible person. My wife and I were confused. We kept telling the TV (don't pretend you don't do this) that he was a changed man!
Chances are, you have been on one side or the other of this kind of situation. Either there has been someone in your life who used to live one way and now they don't but you have difficulty seeing passed their past. Or, you have changed and someone else has difficulty seeing you as anything but who you used to be.
It is really easy for us to listen to the voices, either from others of our own, that tell us the mistakes we have made in the past define who we are now. Too often I have talked with others who have said things like, "I wish I didn't live this way but that is just who I am I guess."
We too easily listen to the lie that tells us we are worthless because of the mistake we have made. This is not the message of Christ! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" We are more than the sum of our mistakes.
We must start living differently and believe that we are no longer who we were before. The woman who had lived in sin believed this. This belief is what led her to wash the feet of Jesus. She didn't continue living in her sin, even though that is exactly what everyone expected her to do. Instead, she went to Jesus, weeping because of the person she had been, but decided to serve Christ.
Leave the old life in the past where it belongs. You no longer live like that. You are a new creation.
Something that sounds a little cheesy but actually works is telling yourself everyday you are who you want to be. Let me give you an example. If I weigh 210 lbs (still being the modest 5'6 I am) but I have made the goal of running a 5K in under 30 minutes and I want to lose 50 lbs then I need to start telling myself, "I am a runner." I need to change my entire mindset. "I am a healthy person." This is not so I can live in some delusional state, but so I can begin living the life of a runner or healthy person. It is the same way with our walk with Christ.
I am a new creation.
I have been saved by grace.
I am no longer a slave to sin.
I am a godly example to my wife and kids.
I am a Youth Minister who is in the Word for my spiritual growth daily.
By telling myself these things, it is easier for me to believe them and to actually live them out. I am not the person I used to be, and that person does not define who I am today. My identity comes from Christ and today I live for Him.
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