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DWELLING ON or IN THE PAST

Whenever the subject of memories of past sins, either those done by us or to us, aside from Scripture references on the subject, I can't help but be reminded of a bumper sticker I once saw which stated, "When Satan Reminds You Of Your Past, Remind Him Of His Future." Certainly, if satan can distract us from service to our Lord then our salvation is endangered (2 Corinthians 11:3). In secular discussions one may introduce the concept of "playing old tapes" to describe the resurrection of painful memories. This phraseology is probably an apt analogy, in modern day terms, to the process employed by satan. Our discussion will address God's will for us both in terms of being encumbered by guilt and shame over our past sins and in terms of putting behind us/not holding on to those physical/emotional/mental injuries inflicted upon us by others.

Let us start by briefly addressing two basic concepts, guilt and shame. Guilt has two general meanings applicable to our spiritual health. Guilt can refer to accountability and answerability in judgment for sin. We are "guilty" of committing the sin of (fill in the blank) and stand in condemnation by God until such time as we acknowledge our guilt, repent and ask for forgiveness (Ezekiel 21:24; Hosea 5:15; Luke 17:3; and 1 John 1:9). In this instance guilt simply signifies the commission of a sin and can be in the present tense (unrepentant/unforgiven) or past tense (repentant/forgiven). Guilt can also refer to the remorse associated with having committed sin. This negative feeling (guilt) can have a positive effect if it leads to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:9-10) or a negative effect if it continues after repentance and forgiveness. It is this holdover of destructive remorse after forgiveness (generally a failure toŒfully accept God's forgiveness) that is to be avoided.

sin (Psalm 53:, 97:7; Isaiah 42:17, 44:9, 45:16; Jeremiah 2:26, 3:25, 8:9; Ezekiel 44:13; Daniel 9:7-8; Micah 3:7). Shame has both a private and a public component although both are linked to our interaction with others. The private component generally denotes a fear of exposure (2 Corinthians 4:2) and the public component denotes the disgrace and humiliation resulting from public exposure of our sin. (See Matthew 1:19 for an illustration of the concept even though no sin was involved.) Shame is actually one of God's tools that can prompt repentance (2 Thessalonians 3:14) and to be without shame (shameless) is in one sense associated with behavior of the wicked (Proverbs 13:5; Jeremiah 6:15; 8:12, 13:27; Zephaniah 3:5; Romans 1:27; Ephesians 5:12; Philippians 3:19). To be avoided is the negative impact upon our spiritual health caused by unwarranted/excessive feelings of shame over our past sins.

The last issue to be addressed is that of holding on to the memories of what others may have done to us in the past. While we are to forgive (Matthew 6:15, 18:35, etc.), we may not be able to forget and it is what we do with those memories that are at issue. In essence, we are faced with choices. We can choose to be victims or we can choose to be someone who, although victimized, has gotten on with their life. We can choose to accept God's renewal as a new creature or we can accept satan's whispers that we are forever tainted. We can choose to use our past as an excuse for our present transgressions or we can accept responsibility and accountability for our actions. We can look forward or we canŒlook backward. We choose the blessing or the curse, life or death (Deuteronomy 30:15-19).

With the issues identified, let us look at God's will for us in these matters.

Two final issues will be addressed. The first is that of looking back at our past sinful life with regret, not regret for having committed sin, but regret for having turned from sin. We are not talking about experiencing the temptation to again engage in some particular sin, but rather remembering with fondness our past sinful activities. (See Exodus 14:10-12, 16:3, 17:3, 32:1-6; 1 Corinthians 10:6-11.) The unacceptability of such behavior can reasonably be inferred from the words of Jesus in Luke 9:62 when He said, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and lookig back, is fit for the kingdom of God." As He later most graphically stated, "Remember Lot's wife." (Luke 17:32; Genesis 19:17,26) Our attitude should rather be like Paul when his remembrance of past sins reflected mere acknowledgment rather than pride (Acts 22:4-5 and 1 Timothy 1:15). (See also 2 Corinthians 7:10.)

Lastly, it is the unforgiven (continual/unrepentant) sin which is to be remembered and cause us grief. If we seek to blot that sin from our memories we are in danger of developing hardened hearts and jeopardizing our salvation (Ephesians 4:17-19; Hebrews 3:8,13,15, 4:7).

Copyright &Copy: 1996 by R.W. Sutliff, All Rights Reserved.

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