One of the necessary requirements of being a Christian is the reality that in order to go forward, you have to take your past with you. I admit this is not an easy thing to do but along with this truth is another one. Your past is past.
Coming to Christ and joining a family of believers requires confession, admission, acceptance and even recognition of the sinner in you. We kind of have to acknowledge our sins to truly understand the why of Jesus’ cross thing, you know, and God’s love thing for us.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. We’ve all heard it before. I’m just saying it comes with understanding the why, and the why is we’re all sinners and will forever fall short.
A real man or woman of faith has been through some stuff they ain’t particularly proud of. They will share their faith from the point of view of experience, wisdom, mistakes. They will offer testimony based on God’s tangible effect on their lives. Regardless of the hell they raised or the heaven they ran from, God is indeed good.
I had a First Class ticket to hell and the devil had a Welcoming Committee there waiting, band and all. The devil wasn’t worried about my eventual arrival because I wasn’t paying any attention to where I was headed. Then, as most of us who finally get it, I came to understand…
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and (to) cleanse us from all righteousness.” At first I wouldn’t accept this. I didn’t know how. I couldn’t believe anybody, let alone God, would see my flaws and faults and still love me unconditionally anyway. Wrong on my part. It’s because of those same flaws and faults and my acceptance of them that I can ask God for forgiveness and categorically know He did before I asked.
Now it’s my job not to try and bury my past, because if I do that then I have no testimony and without it, I can’t help anybody who just might be going through the same hell I did. There is hope and from one sinner to another, the truth is really simple. Trust God. Trust that He loves you and listen for His direction. Seek His roadmap out of what you’re going through. But as a Christian please understand, you can’t get where you want to go until you swallow where you’ve been.
