Depression is often caused by our lamenting over our pasts. We rerun in our minds past failures, broken relationships, failed ventures, and even clumsy social interactions. The internal script that plays out in our minds often does so without our consent or editing.
Sometimes we get ourselves into a frenzy of negative thinking about our pasts and fall into self-loathing as a result.
We’ve all wronged others and let ourselves down. We’ve all sinned. We fall short. That’s what we do.
What a refreshing drink of cool, clean water it is when we truly embrace the fact that our pasts don’t equal our futures. We should all strive to put our hearts at rest regarding the things of our pasts that often haunt us.
We have to forgive ourselves.
God tells us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, but if we can’t forgive ourselves and openly invite God into our hearts, how can we forgive others?
Forgiving ourselves is a testament that we do believe God is real and that He has forgiven us and wants to have open fellowship with us unhindered by our self-judgement.
We beat ourselves up, but God doesn’t want this for our lives.
He doesn’t punish us as our sins deserve.
Psalm 103:10
We should take great solace in knowing this. Let’s put our pasts where they belong – in our past.
Believe that God doesn’t hold our pasts against us. There’s nothing we can do to change what’s already happened. Let it go and invite God to live through us as we embrace hope and gratefulness for how He has blessed us.
Look at the past as building blocks that have built the incredibly wonderful people we are. And we are an incredible creation and testimony to God’s grace, aren’t we?
If we do this, we can love others better. We will live out God’s commandment. We will be able to forgive others freely as we’ve already forgiven the most difficult person to forgive:
Ourselves.
If you don’t have a personal relationship with Christ, won’t you pray this prayer today?
Heavenly father, I know that I am a sinner. Please forgive me for the sins I’ve committed against others, myself, and you, Lord. Through the death and resurrection of your son, Jesus Christ, I know that I can have a new life. Wash me clean of my past and give me a new heart. From this day forward, I want to live for you. In Jesus’ name, amen.