by Dona Hake
I am sharing a testimony I remember hearing a few years ago on a Christian radio station. This young man was sharing his heart, and making emphasis on the power of keeping his heart and eyes set on what God had set before him. He also was declaring the importance of understanding how our past can affect us if we do not deal with it properly. He spoke the following words, and I spoke the words over and over in my mind till I could jot them down on paper. I love to write things down that minister to my heart like this. He said…
”The past is not really the past if
it is impacting your present.”
I thought these were powerful words to ponder. Of course we understand that what happened twenty years ago or even yesterday is over and done with. What we need to understand though is if we dwell on any negatives of our past, and allow them to hinder us in the present they will have power over us. They will affect our life in a very negative way. Sometimes it is hard to fathom how much our past can torment us. Memories can serve to torment us IF we allow them to do so.
Paul wrote in the Corinthians and he exclaimed that those in Christ are more than conquerors, and in Philippians he spoke of the “race” in this life. He declared the importance of staying focused, strong, and purposed to continue in momentum, and he still did not consider himself a winner.
Philippians 3:13 God’s Word Translation
“Brothers and sisters,
I can’t consider myself a winner yet.
This is what I do:
I don’t look back,
I lengthen my stride,
and I run straight toward the goal
to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.
Whoever has a mature faith should think this way.
And if you think differently, God will show
you how to think. However, we should be
guided by what we have learned so far.”