Is Your Past Chaining You There?

Is Your Past Chaining You There?

A simple question but a hard one for 2 reasons..

1. We are who we are to today based upon some part of our past, we learn from experiences, mistakes and other people that have an  impact upon us as we grow up

2. As the the old saying goes "you don't know where you are going till you know where you have been". So to put it in another way if you grew up poor but are now a millionaire (through hard work not fame). You know where you came from and the work you had to put in to get to where you are in life.



But in these examples we appear as mere products of are pasts, my question focuses on the fact that you may be letting your past rule your present and your future, and this is a dangerous way to live.
An example a girl is dating a man, he cheats on her, leaving her heartbroken, she meets a new guy who treats her "too" nice, thus the insecurities of the past relationship creep in to ruin her new relationship.

This is just an example but we have all done it at one time or another the things of the past creep back into our lives and takes hold and that is because we never dealt with them back then, if issues are not dealt with but suppressed it can lead to future pain.

Personally I have had to get over my paranoia that people are laughing at me, if you met me as a child you would know I was awkward, and I felt that people saw that and giggled behind my back. As I grew older and developed in the Lord I embraced the fact that the Lord made me and loved me and that I was beautiful, so all the words of the past I could let go, the cruel names no longer hurt, people shouting out at me as I walked no longer made me want to hide.

We have a choice if we hold on to the chains of the past we can not be free, and Jesus Christ died that we may be free and have life to its full (John 10:10). He died that we may be forgiven of our past and no longer need to feel ashamed by what we were or who we were.

Think about this, Jesus when he went to Samaria went and met the woman at the well, he didn't go and meet religious people or talk with the rich in the land, he chose to meet with the woman who was an outcast, who people looked done upon; a woman who felt the weight of her shame, yet her encounter with the Lord freed her from that life.
Here's the thing Jesus knew everything about that woman and the life she had in the past, but He didn't care about her past but the future that she could have if she gave a her life to the Lord and broke off the chains of her past.

No one ever said it would be easy to let go of things from the past or even forgive but if you ever want to have an abundant future you need to start dealing with the things in the past in order to loosen those chains, Christ can free you from all chains if you are ready to let them go?
Don't be like the rich young ruler who, knew the word of the Lord and followed His statues yet he could not let go of his things, they were the chains that may have stopped him from becoming one of the authors of the bible.
So once again....

Is Your Past Chaining You There?