Forgetting the former things

**Originally written 2/1/2010

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." - Isaiah 43:18, 19

A few weeks ago I sat down with my accountability partner in a coffee shop across the street from campus, and (after several minutes of small talk) began to dive into what I had been struggling with the most. My past.

I went on to divulge my guilt and regret over where I had been and decisions I had made within the past year, even the past week... the past day. I then translated that into what I am continuing to struggle with now, and how even just the knowledge and the reminders of my mistakes were affecting my life today and had a significant affect on my current self identity. After awhile of venting my frustration as my friend sat and listened, God hit me with truth in the next thing she said.

"You are not defined by your past."

There is evidence in the bible of how time and time again God continued to love, use and restore his people regardless of their past. One amazing illustration of this occurs in John when the Pharisees brought before Jesus a woman who had been caught up in adultery. Commiting adultery meant breaking one of the ten commandments written out for God's people in Exodus, and as the Pharisees said "...the Law of Moses commanded [them] to stone such women" (John 8:5). However, instead of stoning her, Jesus says that he does not condemn her; and to go and leave her life of sin (John 8:10,11). Another such example is that of King David. King David was a man that God blessed as a result of David's obedience and pursuit of God. Yet, in spite of David's heart for God and his high rank, he- like every other human being- struggled with sin. In fact, in the course of one chapter David commits adultry, attempts to cover up his sin, and commits murder (2 Samuel 11). Nevertheless one does not have to look far to find his repentence in the very next chapter (2 Samuel 12). As a result, God keeps the promise he made to David years before and the lineage of Jesus Christ in carried out through him (2 Samuel 7:8-16).

"You are not defined by your past". But then what are we defined by? In both of these examples a type of humbling occurs. This humbling manifests itself in regret and repentance of sin. True repentance, the kind where one desires to "leave [their] life of sin". It doesn't simply mean asking for forgiveness, but pursuing a heart change in the process. All have sinned and all continually fall short of the glory of God; God created us, He knows that. What matters to God, isn't our past... but where we are going. What he desires from us isn't a perfect life, but a life spent in genuine, humble pursuit of Him.

**Originally written 2/1/2010