We tend to view our mistakes as the end of the road. Looking back on time wasted, we feel regret and maybe sometimes despair. We live in out past thinking there is no escape from it. It plays like a constant loop in the back of our minds repeating the same troubling thoughts. You messed up. You disappointed everyone. What you have done is shameful. No one will ever look at you the same. You will never amount to anything.
Sister, may I share with you some good news?
When I look at the Bible I do not see a God who holds our past mistakes over our head. I see a God who loves us. A God who heals us. The Bible shows us a God who uses our past mistakes to further His kingdom and bring glory to His name.
So where does this constant loop of disparaging thoughts come from?
These destructive, soul destroying thoughts are the enemies tactics. John 10:10 states,
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
While God allows suffering to draw us closer to Him, satan tries to use suffering to bring us to despair. He wants us to stay stuck in the past. If we are stuck in the past, we will not be working to advance the kingdom.
Paul had a history that could have definitely kept him stuck.
If it were up to the enemy, Paul would have never been able to show his face because of shame. However, oddly enough we rarely think about Paul’s past. When we do think about it, instead of wagging our heads at Paul we praise God. If God could redeem Paul and give him such a powerful legacy,
what could he do with us?
In Ephesians 5:14-16 Paul writes,
“For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
It is interesting to me that he says to awake and Christ will shine on you. Paul became awake to the error of his ways when Christ literally shone on him. He is calling us to allow that same terrifying, exposing light to shine on our mistakes that we have so carefully tucked away. It is when we fully see ourselves that the path forward become clear. It becomes clear just how much God loves us and has pursued us.
When we choose to hide out of self-preservation, we are saying yes to ourselves, but no to a relationship with Christ. To be in relationship with Christ, we have to be honest. We have to open up our hearts to being loved. When we have a deep relationship with Christ, that is when radical living starts. That is when we stop living in fear and start living in praise. That is when God takes those mistakes we feel so much shame for, redeems the time we lost, and transforms them to bring praise to him.
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