We all have a past.

I would venture to say we all can think of something we’ve gone through that brings back old pain when we focus our thoughts on it. But when we do that—when we dwell on the person we used to be and the hurts we’ve experienced—the old pain inflicts fresh wounds.

But instead of focusing on what was, what could have been or even what we think should have been, we need to be proactive and move forward. We need to be warriors who remind ourselves that we are victorious in Jesus.

Because of what Christ did on the Cross, which saved us from our sins, we are offered forgiveness. This means that when we repent of our old ways and turn toward Christ–to walk in a new direction and seek righteousness—we are not the same anymore. We are not who we used to be.

We are redeemed, forgiven, made new. There is “therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” so don’t let your thoughts tell you that there is.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law,weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. {Romans 8:1-11}

And here’s two more thoughts I want to share:

First, just because we embrace our redemption does not mean we are exempt from remembering pieces of our past. But as my mother always says, “The scars are there to remind us of the work Christ has done in our lives.”

Second, it’s okay to be human. To experience emotion. To cry. When the old pain becomes new pain, it’s okay to be real and let it out. But don’t stay there and don’t despair.

Remind yourself that the scars are beautiful. Embrace them, and let them remind you of what Christ has done in your life instead of causing self-condemnation.

There is, after all, NO condemnation for you now.

Jen

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