One of the things I often hear from the Lord is the instruction to “move on” and to forget about the past, even if my mistake or sin just occurred two minutes ago. I would ask for his forgiveness and I would hear him say to me, “I forgive you. All is well.” Yet I would still beat myself up and rehearse the scene over and over again. There is nothing more debilitating in our walk with the Lord than our tendency to wallow in our past. The Lord has taught me to forget about the past and move on. He says to me, “Forgive, forget, and move on” again and again. Even when it doesn’t feel like we should get away so easily for our own foolishness, the Lord has taught me it doesn’t matter what I feel. What I need to do is believe him in what he tells me (that I have been forgiven) and make every effort to concentrate on moving on.
Why is it important to move on and forgive ourselves? Because the past is a tool the enemy can use against us to stay defeated. It is not productive. What is done is done, we cannot change the past. We can only change our actions for the future. Be brave to look at your mistake, learn from it, and then determine in your heart to be better in the future. Our righteousness should not be in striving to be perfect before God, but in making sure we listen to his voice in what he tells us to do. It’s really very easy to live for the Lord because he will show us exactly what to do if we learn to know his voice. Part of learning to recognize his voice is studying his word and knowing what he says. If you struggle in moving on and forgiving yourself, learn what the Bible states about it. It really all comes down to this: Ask the Lord Jesus for forgiveness, believe he has forgiven you, and move on.
It is important to forget the past because this can cause us to sin today. I’ve known people who end up destroying themselves because they lived in their past. It is a sad thing to watch them. Slowly the past causes them to be angry and wrathful. That usually is the tendency with human nature. At first the sin could be because of our own fault, but sooner or later it will turn around to haunt us so much we will end up blaming others for our unhappiness. Instead of forgiving ourselves we instead find a scapegoat to blame it on and lash out to whoever is the closest to us.
Then there’s the experience of someone hurting us. This is very hard for a lot of people. I remember being very angry at someone who had hurt me. Everyday I tried to justify myself why I hated that person. I tried to tell myself I had every right to feel that way towards them. I couldn’t get over it. I knew the scorn I was feeling for that person was sin, but every time I remembered what that person did to me I couldn’t help myself but hate them. It was awful. There was no peace of mind in it. It is insidious because it causes you to justify yourself again and again, and on top of this the enemy turns around and springs guilt on you. It is his work to make you feel that you have every right to hate that person and then make you feel bad about it. This is what I felt. I turned around and reproached myself, “How can I be a Christian and feel this way about someone?” And this thought from the devil: “What would people think if they could see you now? What would this person think about your Christianity if you can’t forgive them?” Then I would say, “I don’t care. I wish I will never see them again.” It’s a vicious cycle, a merry go round of the enemy playing at me again and again. There is no peace in it.
What causes this unhappiness of an unforgiving heart? Pride really is the root of all this. Pride. Truthfully if you didn’t think so highly of yourself no one can do you any wrong. In reality we think too much of ourselves. Think about Christ for a second. When the Jews made the judgment against him to kill him and crucify him and the soldiers came to mock him and spit on him, what do we see him do? Did he get angry and turned around and bring lightning from heaven? No. He just stood there and let them beat him. He stood there and let them curse him and spit on him. He took that cross on his shoulders and walked that road to Golgotha. Do we read in the scriptures at all that he was seething with rage and was foaming in the mouth saying to himself, “How could they do this to Me?” Do we hear him say, “I hate all this people! I hope to God I never see them again!” Laughable isn’t it? We could never imagine Christ that way. We see him there hanging on the cross and saying these very words, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” {Luke 23:34} They took his robe from him and he says to God, “Please forgive them.” Incredible really. Jesus Christ described himself in Matthew 11:29 as someone who is meek and lowly in heart. Meek is someone who is quiet and gentle, easily imposed upon. Lowly is someone who is low in status or importance, humble.
The key to forgiveness is being humble. Humble enough to say, “You know what, they might not deserve to be forgiven because of what they have done to me, but I forgive them anyway because I want to be forgiven when my turn comes that I need mercy.” We all need mercy. One way or another we will come to that road where we will find ourselves desperately needing mercy.
Moving on and forgetting about the past is also having enough faith in God’s love for us. Remember what the Bible said, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” {Hebrews 11:6} We have to believe in his love for us, that it is great. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, the greater it is the greater God’s mercy is for it. If you want to please the Lord believe him right away in forgiving you because it is showing faith in him.
Forgiving ourselves, accepting our faults and our need to be forgiven is humbling. But that is exactly what the Lord wants for us to be. He wants us to be humble enough to say, “I make mistakes. I am not perfect. It is okay. Please forgive me Lord and help me forgive myself.”
It is important we learn to move on from our past because the Lord has plans for us in his work. He wants us to do his work. He needs us. If the past is constantly hindering us from moving on, then we will not be able to do his work. Learn to forgive yourself and forgive others. Learn to be humble enough to say to the Lord, “Not my will Lord, but Yours be done.” Then move on.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” {James 4:10}
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”{Philippians 3:13-14}
