Leaving the Past Behind

Hello All,

What does it mean to leave the past behind?

This frequently uttered phrase often feels so abstract. Many would consider it a stale idea, a cliché often recited in movies and novels.

But the fact is, past experiences often stalk us in our conscious and unconscious minds and affect the way we feel and respond to the present. The past often feels like a shadow that looms over the present.  

Leaving the Past Behind

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling

I'm leaving the past behind me

I'm casting hurts into the sea

I'm giving my regrets to God

Who guides me with His staff and rod

I'm leaving the past behind me

I'm releasing painful memories

To Jesus, I commit my past

On Him, my sin and shame, I cast

I stepped upon the shore of hope

No longer am I bound by ropes

Christ has unravelled the tight knots

My battles, He has bravely fought

I was a captive bound in chains

Broken by hurts, filthy with shame

For my sins, I could not atone

I was in anguish and alone

But through the cross, Christ set me free

My past has now no hold on me

My future is glowing bright

For I am walking in the light

Points for Reflection:

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 3:13-14 ESV)

·       Are there memories you are struggling to contain? Are there regrets, hurts, shame, and guilt that run too deep? Are there wounds you are trying to cover up and deny? Do you try to drown those nightmares in entertainment, pleasures, substance, work, or other means to numb the pain? Is the past consuming you?

·       We are broken people with a tainted past. We cannot save ourselves. But the good news is we don’t have to.

·       We have a Saviour who has wiped away the sin and guilt of our past. He has taken our filth and shame upon Himself on the cross. He has given us a new start on a clean slate. We are now righteous and holy, not because of the good deeds we have done, but because of Jesus’s loving sacrifice.

·       In this life, we will be disappointed, but we do not lose hope. In this life, we will get hurt, but we do not stop loving others with God’s love. In this life, we will be rejected, but we do not stop reaching out to others for we have been accepted by the grace of God.

·       The past hurts. But in God’s eyes, the sins of our past are no more. With such comforting knowledge, we can commit our past to God with all its brokenness. With time, God will help us to let go of the past and fix our eyes on Him as we run the race with courage and confidence in the prize that awaits us when we see Him face to face.