It’s almost cliché. Everyone says that you can’t live in the past. Don Henley in the “Boys of Summer” said, “A little voice inside my head said never look back. You can never look back.” Joe Dee Messina in her song, “Bye Bye” said, “I got my rear view mirror torn off, and I ain’t never looking back. And that’s a fact.” God also wants us to not live in past. An overriding theme of the Bible is that Jesus died for our past mistakes. Therefore, we are not condemned, but we are free from the guilt and shame associated with our former selves. It can be summed up in the following verse:
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
However, even though I know I am fully forgiven of all my mistakes (sins), sometimes I start thinking about them. Shame and guilt creep into my mind. Then I think about the sacrifice that Jesus made. He made that sacrifice so I wouldn’t have to feel shameful or guilty. I think it is border-line disrespectful to God to continue to dwell in shame and guilt when such a great sacrifice was made to rid me of shame and guilt.
Therefore, there’s a danger in living in the past. Dwelling in our past mistakes not only disrespects the sacrifice of Jesus, but it also hinders our development as Christians. It is difficult to be caring, loving, forgiving, charitable, and merciful to others if we can’t be caring, loving, forgiving, charitable, and merciful to ourselves. But there’s also an equally dangerous aspect of living in the past that has absolutely nothing to do with our past mistakes. I call it the “Glory Days” syndrome.
I know several people who want to live in the era of their past successes. This is especially true of men more so than women. And it’s just like the Bruce Springsteen song, “all he kept talking about….Glory Days”. Most of the time, the Glory Days consists of past accomplishments in sports, but the “Glory Days” can also be past successes at work or even past successes within the church. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging and celebrating our past successes. Past successes were, of course, blessings from God. However, when we live in the era of our past successes, we fall into the same trap as living in the past. It hinders our development as Christians. Our focus is in the wrong place. Our mission as Christians should be becoming more Christ-like as time goes on.
Paul puts this way in Philippians 3:13-14
13 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, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
So, we shouldn’t let the guilt and shame of past mistakes or the past successes of the Glory Days keep us from “straining forward to what lies ahead“.
PS: It’s okay to wear that senior high school jacket around the house for a few minutes. Just be sure to return it to the closet, when finished.