In this world everything changes, except for good deeds and bad deeds. These follow us as the shadows follow the body.
Our identity, our being at any moment, is a composite of all we have been in the past, some of our actions have made us wiser.
All of our deeds have contributed in some measure to our growth, however, and they can guide our choice to behave honourably today.
In order to live successfully in the present and move into the future God has planned for us, we have to step out of the past. If we don't, it will colour everything we see and affect all we do.
Walking with God means living moment by moment with him in the present.
However, some people live for the future.
Others give no thought to the future or past, certain that the steps we take today will determine our future.
Therefore, our future is determined 'one day at a time' living the present, we need to seek.
Thy leading of the Lord on a daily basis. Furthermore, the past 15 years of my life I've struggled with the feeling that I would never amount to anything, or live to be a complete failure. It was not until I entirely surrendered my past to the Lord and walked out of it step by step, that I was able to see myself as a child of God, created for his purposes and not a dysfunctional mistake.
When I became an adult I was more aware of the hurts and scars of my people I've caused throughout my childhood years, and into my youth years.
There will come a time where I will have had enough, and I feel live giving up. At that moment I'll do everything right by having the right frame of mind. I'll release any worries or cares about my decisions or actions to the care of God.
I will feel content and wonderful of who I am and what I do, for I accept myself just as I am. In order for me to walk out of forgiveness, I have to let go of everything except for God's hand.
This means releasing what needs to be released, and accepting what needs to be accepted.
Many people often build their identity around their defects. When we discard old fear, we have a sense of liberation. Whatever wound that old fear was protecting can certainly heal.
Therefore we are ready to face life as it comes, not as we fear it might come.
All and all, when we walk with the Lord, healing, deliverance and growth are ongoing in our lives. That's why what may have been true for us last year will not necessarily be true for us today. Yesterday's failure may become today's success.
We can get stuck in the negative complexities of the past when we don't recognize our part in it.
We see injustices against us, but we fail to realize at some point that we are still responsible for our own attitudes.
If we live in fear, doubt, anger, hatred, resentment, bitterness and unforgivingness over something that happened in the past, even if it does seem totally justified, 'we will suffer.'
Jesus came to, "Give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:79)
We have to make peace with the past.
Fabian Tom, Burns Lake