Getting Past Your Past

20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20 NLT

All men and women have an interesting relationship with the past. Some are haunted by it, while others try desperately to relive it. Some grab hold of it in desperation, and others try to completely detach from it with an embittered shame. Regardless of our engagement, the past is always damned to the outer limits of our reach. This can be one of the cruelest facts of life.

The more we live in the past, the more we miss out on the present. I don’t mean this to urge a Carpe Diem gusto. No, we all know too well how this attitude fails us. We see something differently in Jesus.

When we look at the life of Christ, we see an incredible presence in the present. Sure, He longed for a better day in the future and used the past to teach, but this was only in order to enrich the present experience. There is a sense that to the Christ-follower, both the past and the future serve only to attach us to the present. Perhaps Jesus was able to do this so well because He knew how and when His life was to end.

How would we live if we we privy to such information?

I imagine there would be a period of mourning, but eventually as the deadline approached, we would thrive in a better present. The past would fade from our view as we start to look more intently through the windshield than the rear view mirror.

Today, let go of your past. You are no longer bound to your “old self”. You stand absolved in a beautiful present brimming with possibilities.