When it comes to dealing with your relationship past, you may have feelings of regret, remorse, resentment, embarrassment, and more. Our past relationships may not have brought out the best in us or the best in the person we were with. Perhaps you’ve compromised your standards or someone else’s. Perhaps you did that person real wrong in one way or the other, and for some reason, years later, you are carrying on some of that guilt and condemnation from that past mistake.
My fellow BCS (beloved Christian singles), if you haven’t already, it’s time to let the past go and forgive yourself. This is specifically important because we too often carry hurts we put on others, almost as if we cursed ourselves for our past way of thinking and acting. You’re not the same person that you were back then. WE have ALL fallen short of the glory of God, and our sins at one point ruled us out of receiving God’s promise. Then Jesus came along and changed the course of human history with His obedience and acts of love and grace. He died for you and in turn Jesus took away the guilt, hurt and shame that He knew you would eventually feel in this life.
Unfortunately, we feel like it’s hard to shake and we have it on us like a stronghold. Maybe it’s due to a emotional or soul ties. Maybe it’s because you don’t see yourself as worthy of forgiveness. Maybe it’s because you don’t know that you’ve been already forgiven and need to embrace that instead of what you’ve been holding on to for so long.
I held on to the guilt of hurting an ex for years. I thought it wasn’t there in my heart or spirit anymore because of time, but I realized that after journaling my past experiences with my exes, I needed to self reflect and see that I was still carrying the burdens of their broken heart for them. It pains me to hurt other people, but when God calls you out of something, it’s for a reason and you must be obedient. I didn’t realize that I needed to forgive myself for how I went about doing things in my past. When I was in Bible study time on my own, it just hit me like an instant spark in my mind: I’m no long condemned. I don’t have to be guilty anymore for what I’ve done in my past.
The devil’s tactic to keep from moving forward is by placing the weights of the past on you. It was a simple and clean moment in which I felt God’s assurance within me that He’d reminded me of my own freedom. I’m FREE. I’m free from my guilt from the past. I may get a reminder but it won’t tear me down. It will be a part of my testimony of when I wasn’t where I wanted to be in the Lord and made a mess of things leaning to my own understanding, youth and ignorance. The release of the guilt that weigh you down is refreshing. It feels beyond good to realize that it’s no longer your burden; it’s time to finally let it go into the hands of the Lord.
Maybe it’s your time to forgive yourself for your past. Things may not have gone the way you wanted them to go before, but you can’t change the past. God is giving you a chance to enter His grace on the daily, so trade that guilt for grace. Forgive yourself and be free. Be happy and happy for those who you’ve encountered in your life.
Your future says that you will be spotless in God, your past doesn’t matter to Him, so why does it to you? Give it all to God today and embrace the grace of forgiveness.
