LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND

Welcome to 2018!!!

I sure hope you slayed your 2017 goals and warmed up for the New Year.

I have a few tips to share on how to leave the past behind and focus on achieving even greater goals this year.

I shared these tips during an online conference I taught at recently and I hope it blesses you.

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LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND....

We all have a story to tell, either good, beautiful, ugly, sweet and even bitter ones. But, while a lot of people keep theirs close to their hearts, a few choose to share lessons from past experiences just to bless anyone who cares enough to listen and also learn from them.

If you've been following my blog posts, you would have gathered that I grew up in a very abusive environment. I was exposed to damaging situations as a teenager and early adulthood. It was quite traumatic for me as I could barely lead a "normal and healthy" lifestyle.

I gradually reclined to the belief that nothing good could actually come out of me as one of my siblings once told me out of anger.

Well, look at me now! I am "BALLING" in Christ Jesus 😎😉

It's safe to mention here that often times, the devil uses our inadequacies to keep us in bondage and damage our glorious destiny. But the beautiful thing is this, that situation he orchestrates to destroy an individual is the very same God uses to turn that individual's life around for His glory.

Fast forward to university days…

I was VERY damaged!  I got into school shortly after I gave my life to Christ and didn't know how to build my relationship with Him. I didn't know how to pray or even study the Word. Imagine, having power and authority and still being tossed to and fro by your servant because you're ignorant of your SONSHIP.

Although saved, I was still a slave to my past. I couldn't sleep! There were nights I cried myself to sleep because memories of the HURTFUL past won't just go away!

You see, One of the reasons we remain in the past is because we fail to get help.

We worry about how people will judge us if they found out that we still masturbate, lie, fornicate, have sexual or demeaning thoughts as a Christian. "Oh! What will they say when I tell them I kissed a guy/girl? How will my friends look at me if I tell them I used to do X, Y and Z."

I was scared to seek help too, until I came across James 5:16 and I got the courage to confide in few trusted individuals who helped me with my renewal process. My growth was gradual with a lot of rising and falling, but I discovered during this period that when you hide your sin there is no moving forward. You remain stuck in the guilt and wallow in self pity.

The Bible says "come unto me, all ye who labour and are heavy laden and I'll give you rest."- Matthew 11:28. Still speaking in Isaiah 1:18, God says "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

This proves that seeking help is instrumental to leaving a hurtful and an unpleasant experience behind and moving on to being completely healed from its damages.

Another practicable way to get over a past is by moving past it. Yes! Move past your past. When someone suddenly hits his foot against a stone, he DOES NOT sit there to measure the size of the stone, neither will he remain at the spot for fear of hitting his foot again. A wise person will take a quick look at the object that has caused him a momentary pain, tend to the wound if any and continue on his journey.

I wish I knew this truth when I was younger, but I am happy I know them now and even happier to share with you.

I am unsure of the past experiences or failures that have kept you from going BOLDLY to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace that you need to fulfil your glorious destiny, but I have some nuggets that I am sure will be useful in case you desire to Leave the Past Behind and Step into your Glorious Destiny.

These steps were the processes God took me through during my healing period. People rarely believe it when I tell them I did not have to see any "counsellor" for the several years of (sexual, verbal, physical and emotional) abuse.

The Holy Spirit was my counsellor. I had different encounters that I cannot share now. I was also directed to look up stories of certain people with same; if not worse, experiences. He also sent people at different stages of my life who "walked" with me.

I was helped by God through these and I hope they help you too.

The 5 steps is an acronym called "ARISE."😊

A: Accept the past

R: Repent from the past

I: Isolate yourself from agents of the past

S: Soul Search to rediscover you i.e purpose

E: Evolve into a better you daily

Although the past is bygone and no longer exists, it is still in our subconscious and it has kept some people from progressing in life and denial is the reason a lot of people never rise above hurtful past.

So in other to move past your past;

1. Accept: Until you admit that you've erred, you're will never learn from the error and you're likely to commit the same mistake over and over again. But once you admit your mistake, you'll learn from it and you're likely never going to repeat same.

In my case, I had to admit that I went all the way with sin. I pretended for a while because I didn't want to be judged, I was scared no one would accept me in my entirety. Interestingly, my life turned around drastically and beautifully when I started accepting the truth about my past.

The reason some people continue to fail is a result of nonacceptance of past failure, so they fail again. Take for Instance back in school, people who did well in exams when asked what they got they'll reply by saying "I scored...", But when you ask a student who failed the exam the response could be "don't mind them, they gave me....".

No! They didn't give you! You were scored based on what you wrote.

Accepting a past is taking responsibility for what has happened and making attempts to become better.

Do you want to live a prosperous life? Then accept and confess your failures - Proverbs 28:13)

Acceptance is the first step to moving from a destructive past to a glorious destiny.

Thank you for reading!!!

Please help share this truth, you never know, it might be someone's turning point.

Feel free to comment, I will love to read your thoughts on this.

Read the concluding part here

#AforcetoReckonwith