There is a way to know & Jesus wants you free from your past & living well today.
The 1st question that comes up in looking at our answer is, ”As Christians, is it okay to look back?”
It is a great question, as there is a ”bad” way to look back. There can be endless ruminations. There can be dwelling. There can be ”navel gazing.” There can be refusing to let go & see what God has for us today. There is, in fact, an unhealthy way to look back.
Some Christians will even cite to us that we should be ”forgetting what lies behind” (Phil. 3:13) – as Paul said. However, in that case, Paul was citing all of his accomplishments. He was referring to moving from sitting on his laurels, so to speak, and counting what CHRIST did for him as what he could place his faith in, as he moved forward.
He was not looking to deny his past & any harm it had brought to him that was still impacting him today. He was not ”releasing” any past traumas & their in one fell swoop. It was in an entirely different context.
If we are thinking this scripture is proof that we should not consider our pasts, we may very well remain in some denial of how the past is impacting us today.
Yet, Jesus was desirous that we might ”live in the light.” (Col. 1:12) He did not want us to crawl around in darkness & denial.
And, He most certainly wanted us to ”worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23) In this scripture, the word for ”truth” means “reality.” He was not looking for us to cover up what was happening to us nor what has happened.
And, He, certainly, never wanted us to lie or deny reality. He has no need for us to deny the “reality” of our pain, our trauma, His power to heal, our testimony – none of it.
Jesus is about:
All light. All truth. All reality. All the time. All the way.
And, so, having said that…we are not looking to dwell.
We most certainly, do not LIVE in the past. We are not there.
Time moves on. And that is how He designed our lives to be.
We are here. We are in today.
And, so, what is the relevance of our past?
It can certainly be relevant for testimony – to prove what God has done – to see His power – to see what He can do.
And, it is also relevant in any way that it is unresolved, unaddressed & causing us harm in the present.
And, this is where we begin.
When we are looking to work out past trauma, Sisters, as Christians, we are looking to find how it affects us today, so we may be untangled from it.
We are only looking to untangle it for the sake of His glory. To PROVE:
- He is the One Who can set us free.
- He has the answer.
- He is Our Deliverer.
- He can do what He said He can do.
And, the 1st step to knowing how to untangle it all, open up, get in the Light, tell the truth, be firmly in ”reality” is to be honest about assessing how we are living today….in our emotions, in our thought life, in our actions & in our relationships.
Moving deeper into these assessments, so we may know where to begin, is the 1st step on the Sisters Devoted Journey to Wholeness – the Journey from being in pieces to living in peace.
If you wish to access these assessments & start on the Journey to Wellness with us, reach out to: amy@sistersdevoted.com.
