Forgetting the Past

“Leave the broken, irreversible past in God’s hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.” – Oswald Chambers

One of the saddest things that I witness on a regular basis as a pastor is people whose lives have been crippled by past failures, mistakes, sins, and hurts. I meet people all the time who are unwilling, afraid, or who feel unworthy to step out in faith because of something that has happened in their past. Now, I know that when we get wounded by the sins of someone else or our own stupidity or both, sometimes it takes a while for those wounds to heal. That place in our heart is going to be tender for a while. And when a wound heals, it almost always leaves a scar.

Years ago, I had hip surgery and because of the extensive nature of the surgery, the doctor peeled me open like someone would peel an orange. Consequently, I have a giant scar on my backside. But the thing about scars is that you don’t really notice them until you see yourself in the mirror or someone brings it up. Scars of the heart are similar.  They are not noticeable until someone brings up that situation or you have some sort of an encounter with that person. Those memories come flooding back and the scar is brought into view again, the pain is remembered.

Now here is the reality about the scars of the heart; they can become the thing that defines you! The reminder of the “thing” or “event” that ruined your life; the thing or event that set you on a course toward destruction, seclusion and heartache. Or, on the other hand, that scar can become the pleasant reminder of the overwhelming and unending grace of God in your life. It is the thing that should have ruined you, but by the grace of God and the faithfulness of God, you are still standing and have moved on and are able to minister to others who have felt that same kind of pain.

What that scar becomes will depend largely on how you respond to the Word of God in your situation. Paul the Apostle, writing in the book of Philippians, declares “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:3-14)

Now, I want you to note that Paul doesn’t merely say, “forget the past.”  We know that is easier said than done. No, Paul says the way that you forget the past is by focusing on something else and making it the priority in your life. Paul refused to be defined by his past, so he declared  “one thing I do.” Paul would say to us,  I am pressing forward toward the goal and the prize of getting to know Jesus more and finding my identity not in my past but in my relationship with Him! That is the goal. That is the focus! That is thing that I am pursuing.

When the past involves our past sins, we need to remember that the Bible declares that our sins have been forgiven and forgotten (Hebrews 8:12). They are put as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). When my daughter, Amanda, was a little kid around three years old, she used to love to play with a calculator. She would fill the screen with numbers and then push the erase button and yell, “Clear!” and the numbers would vanish. That is what God does with our sins. First John 1:9 declares that if we confess our sins, that God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You spend the day filling up the screen with sins, and then you bring it to the Lord in heartfelt repentance and God yells – CLEAR! And just like that, your sins our gone. God sees you in His Son, Jesus, covered in the righteousness of Christ!

Dear friends, we need to believe that and live in that reality. Our sins have been forgiven and forgotten, and even though the scar from that sin might still remain, it must not define us because we have been forgiven and set free! When the scar is the result of someone else’s sin and the way that they hurt you, you need to remember what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:9 that the grace of God is sufficient. The word sufficient means “more than enough to get us through.” The grace of God is sufficient and His power is made perfect in our weakness. When we are weak, when we are hurting, it opens the door for the Lord to show Himself strong on our behalf, if we allow Him to. His daily measure of grace can be just what we need to get through the day when we reach out to Him and call upon him. When we learn to live in grace instead of the past, that scar becomes a symbol of God’s power being made perfect in the midst of our weakness and pain. That is how we can begin to follow the advice of Oswald Chambers and “Leave the broken, irreversible past in God’s hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.” Daily living by faith in His grace and faithfulness is the key!

The Battle is already won!

“Take heart.  I have overcome the world.”
– John 16:33

In the heat of war, in the depths of the battlefield, nothing is more unsettling than the unknown.  If I got drafted today and was placed into a firefight, I’d be sweating bullets! I’d be thinking, “Is this the end? Can I make it?”

Imagine if someone showed up with a crystal ball to show the soldiers the future: “None of you will perish! You fight hard but in the end you win!” That would give me great joy and cause me to want to fight harder!

Church, we know the end of the story in the war against Satan. We win! Jesus is victorious. The Enemy is crushed! Stop fighting like you don’t know if you’re going to make it, and remember that though we still face battles here on earth, the war is already won! Live in victory!

‘LOVE THE SINNER, HATE THE SIN’

I read a great article in Relevant Magazine today that I thought was well-written and worth sharing on the subject of how we interact with a brother or sister who is in sin. Read it and I would love to hear your comments.  – Pastor Rob

HOW WE MISUNDERSTAND ‘LOVE THE SINNER, HATE THE SIN’

There’s a difference between loving people and accepting their harmful behaviors.

A while back, an old friend of mine sat down across the table from me and looked up with the biggest smile on her face. “We finally had sex,” she said. “And it has changed everything. We are so much closer now. It’s like all of our problems just disappeared!”

Now, our culture would insist that I be happy for my friend and her boyfriend. After all, she was happy with her actions, and that’s all that matters, right? That’s what I believed at the time, so I took the easy way out and put on a smile for my friend, fake though it was.

We are becoming more and more interested in the idea of acceptance. For the most part, this is a great thing. The old, ugly theology of using love as a way to disguise judgement and hatred has given way to a warmer, healthier Christian community.

But, as with many cultural shifts, there is a balance to keep in mind. In our efforts to “love the sinner, hate the sin,” we often find it easier to ignore the sin altogether, and confuse blind acceptance with genuine love.

And in a lot of ways that’s a good thing—we should humble ourselves to listen to, love and accept others. But in a culture where “Only God can judge me” is a common phrase heard among believers and non-believers alike, it’s easy to wonder: Are we getting love and acceptance all wrong?

The Harsh Reality

The word “acceptance” as seen in our world today is really just a flowery covering for another not so beautiful word that none of us really wants to say: superficiality. Nobody wants to be or have a fake friend, and yet we’re all buying into a mindset that does nothing but foster surface level relationships.

So, when a friend has a real problem—perhaps an unhealthy addiction, a prideful attitude or even a problem with judging others—we’re tempted to leave them be. We don’t want to come across as unloving, so we use love as an excuse to avoid difficult conversations.

Love is messy and hard, while acceptance is clean and easy. Love sometimes means telling your friends they’re wrong. It sometimes means calling them out on their behavior.

I’m guilty of it too. In the aforementioned conversation, in my effort to be accepting of whatever made my friend happy, I was straying further and further away from the type of friend God calls us to be. In spite of what the world tells me, the Bible tells me that I am to hold my brothers and sisters accountable. This doesn’t mean I should have shamed my friend or launched into a lecture about purity, but given our level of friendship, I could have asked some questions or voiced loving concern.

True friendship, especially among believers, means we don’t just look the other way when a friend is doing something that may be harmful in the long run. Saying, “Yes you are sinning, but it’s making you happy. So just keep sinning!” may be easier and a lot less messy than the alternative, but it is ultimately destructive. So while you may think that just accepting someone’s sinful behavior makes you a good friend, the harsh reality is that it actually makes you a selfish one.

Love vs. Acceptance

“Love the sinner, hate the sin” has meant different things to different generations. Sometimes, it’s been used as an excuse to essentially ostracize people we view as “sinners” from the Church. But I often see our generation leaning too far the other direction: most of us take the phrase to mean, “Accept the sinner and their sinful behaviors, and just secretly hate the sin.”

The truth is, love and acceptance are not the same thing. The even bigger truth is that love is messy and hard, while acceptance is clean and easy. Love says, “Your actions are hurting you. And because I love you, I am going to hold you accountable.”

Love sometimes means telling your friends they’re wrong. It sometimes means calling them out on their behavior. Love sometimes means disagreements and arguments, but those ultimately lead to personal and spiritual growth.

The alternative would be allowing your friends to participate in behavior that is harmful to them and their salvation. I think we often forget the reality of Romans 6:23, which says that the consequence of sin is death. It is very straightforward and clear about that. It then goes onto say that in spite of this, our gift from God is eternal life. I say that acceptance of a friend’s sin is allowing them to go down a destructive path because of this truth spoken in Romans. The continuation of sinful behavior results in death. The acceptance of Christ—that is, leaving your earthly desires behind to pick up your cross and follow Him—leads to eternal life.

True love does not simply accept sin, because true love wants the best for our brothers and sisters. True love doesn’t just accept because true love cannot accept death for our brothers and sisters. So yes, love can get messy. It can be painful because it makes for more vulnerable relationships. But these are the relationships that are real. These are the relationships that encourage change and foster growth through the promotion of truth.

Grace on Grace on Grace

The thing about love is that it is so tightly tied to grace. Because real love is vulnerable and sometimes painful, grace is always necessary on both sides. Grace is necessary when a friend calls out your sinful behavior. We are all sinners in need of accountability, so there will inevitably be times when our own sins will be brought to light. Grace in these moments is realizing that you are being called out because you are being loved.

We are all sinful—no one person more sinful than the other. We should be coming from a place of love, rather than judgment or condescension.

And on the other end, grace is necessary when calling out a brother or sister. Grace in this situation is also realizing that we are all sinful—no one person more sinful than the other—and in that, we should be coming from a place of love, rather than judgment or condescension. This practicing of grace on grace on grace over and over again is the key to the growth and change that happens in real relationships. Grace is what makes us. It is what shapes us. And through Christ’s death on the cross and in our day-to-day relationships, grace is what saves us.

It is important to love all of God’s children. From the tax collectors to the Pharisees to the priests, we are all sinners.

Christian love says, “I love you for the broken, sinful person that you are. And because I love you, I will encourage you to be the man or woman you are called to be in Christ.”

Don’t just take the easy way out by condoning the continuation of sin, but rather, speak the truth in love and see real change and growth happen.

– By Suzanne Munganga