| Some Christians
miss out on many of the blessings of Christianity because they
continue to carry around excess baggage they would not leave
behind when they put on Christ in baptism. Memories, temptations,
and the guilt of past sins haunt some because they have failed
or struggled with putting them away as they should have. The
other side of the coin applies too. Some fail to grow in the
faith because they hesitate to let go of worldly ambitions or
accomplishments they experienced before they decided to follow
Christ. Christianity is supposed to be a new start. The apostle
Paul wrote, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things
have become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). Paul understood this very well. He was a very accomplished man before he became a Christian. He gave up a great deal (by worldly standards) to become a Christian, but he understood the eternal gain it meant for him to do so. He told the Philippians how he had excelled in Judaism, but then said, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Phil. 3:7, 8). Paul's faith in Christ had freed him from the bondage of his past. Sure, he felt remorse for what he had done to the church prior to his conversion, but he did not allow it to prevent him from moving forward. He wrote to Timothy and said, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief" (1 Tim. 1:12, 13). Paul realized the damage he had done in the past, but instead of letting it hold him back, he was thankful and used his forgiveness to motivate him to get busy for the Lord. We must learn to do the same thing. We cannot afford to be Christian "pack rats" who store up guilt and memories that will hinder us from enjoying God's blessings and doing His will. The sins of our past, and the lingering guilt of them, will easily overtake us again if we allow them to. If we insist on living in the past, our past will most likely take over our present. We must have faith in the promises of God. We must truly believe that God has forgiven us in the past, and will continue to forgive us of those sins as we repent, so we can put the guilt behind us and move on. The writer of Hebrews wrote, "…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1). He means we must do all we can to stop sinning, remove those things from our life that weight us down, and move forward. Sin, and the guilt of sin, can be like a ball and chain weighting us down and holding us back on our spiritual journey. Again, we must follow the example of Paul. He wrote, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:12-14). Maybe it's time some of us threw out our junk to make more room for the faith and blessings. -Ed |