Divine Mentor: Are You Living in the Past? by Debbie McGrath

Forgetting the Past:

Are you living you in your past?  When you live in the past - you can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep rereading the last one.  There are many people today who aren't experiencing victory today because they are focused on yesterday.  People who live in the past - close their eyes, they don't see their dreams for tomorrow; they only see the devastation of yesterday!

One way to know if you are living in the past - do you have bitterness or anger toward someone you can not let go?  

Holding on to bitterness and anger. Not forgiving those who have hurt you:

Is there someone you have ill feelings for – they have abused you or betrayed you.

Has a friend betrayed you or used you?

Have you been so hurt by your spouse that your marriage couldn’t survive and ended in a divorce?

Has your child been ungrateful an unloving?

When you hold on to those feelings of bitterness and unforgiveness you are not hurting that person –

 you are only hurting yourself.

Unresolved bitterness is an anchor that doesn’t just hold you back,it drags you down. 

 It causes you to stay in the past, reliving that hurt every day, pulling you farther and farther from God.

Many times we can’t move forward in our relationship with God because we hold on too:

Hurt

Lack of trust

Bitterness

Betrayal

Being judged

Resentment

Abandonment

Anger

When you forgive that person, you allow God to deal with the person who hurt you. 

 You remove yourself from the position of judge and you let God handle the sin that was perpetrated against you. 

Forgiveness is a choice. It doesn’t happen accidentally. 

 You will be amazed at how much better you will feel – physically, emotionally and spiritually

when you choose to let goof the bitterness of unforgiveness. 

You must decide that you are going to resist the devil’s attempts to keep you living in past hurt

and then you will have to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to help you as you strive

 to be obedient to God’s word.

Forgiving the person who hurt you is a choice. It is also an act of obedience to God. 

 Forgiveness is a gift: and really no one deserves it.

To help you forgive others remember:

God forgives me for much more than I will ever have to forgive others for.

Forgiving those who hurt you –Is one way to get past your past!