You are not your past. I am not my past. Sure, the history that has been my life plays a role, but it does not have to define me. We have certain quirks & habits about us, some that have been brought on by genetics and some that have been brought on by self; but they don't define me. Because I am not my past. You are not your past. We look a certain way, and we talk a certain way, and we have certain mannerisms, but that does not define us. That is not the sum of who we are.
The decisions we have made are powerful, of course, but they don't define us. While yes, it's true that our next step hangs on the hinges of our next decision and yes, it can be life altering for the good or the bad, BUT, it does not have to define us. It's up to you. And it's up to me.
We have all made poor choices in life; we have all said and done things that if given the chance to go back, we certainly would correct those things. But since we don't get the option of a re-do per se, we have to take today for what it is. And today is a day bathed in mercy, if we'll accept it. Today is a day bathed in grace, if we'll accept it. Today is a page that is yet to be written. You can choose today to be your past, or you can choose today to be your future!
I love Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
Even in the midst of our worst choice, even perhaps when we did not know God, even while doing that very thing that we would change if given the opportunity, even then, Jeremiah 29:11 was still Jeremiah 29:11. Even in our past, God's thoughts toward us were peace. They were good and not evil. He still had a plan and a purpose for us. Even then.
And so in the today that we have been given, we make the choice. We either live in the past and allow our history to define us. Or we look at today and say "God, your will and not mine."
His mercies are new every morning. It's a new day, He is the God of new beginnings and this can be the best day of the rest of our lives, because of the amazing grace of God.
Let's not live another day in the valley of regret. Let's not allow the devil to make our mind a playground of our past mistakes or miseries. I am not my past. You are not your past.
It's a new day. The choice is yours. The choice is mine.
2 comments:
Thanks, love it!! So true. :)
I am glad I came upon FB Link to your blog. Fresh, heaven-sent perspective... its what I needed this morning. What a nice reminder that God's got it all mapped out for me. To be encouraged with my future and free of my past. To remember that I am human but I am in charge of daily choices.
Good stuff, and keep it coming :)
Ps I think a devotional is in the making.
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