Let It Go (1)

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Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past

Isaiah 43:18

What do you do when your memory drags the ‘there and then’ into the ‘here and now’, immersing you in the same old pain? The Bible answers, ‘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?’. Your past can infect your present and influence your future unless you decide to let it go.

First, let go of what God has forgiven! God’s only response to confessed sin is to forgive and forget it. If it comes up again, you, not He, brought it up. ‘If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us…and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9). Two things make letting go difficult.

1) Your feelings. ‘I just don’t feel forgiven!’ you say. You’re forgiven by God’s grace obtained through Christ’s sacrifice – regardless of emotions. Don’t wait to feel it before you accept it; accept it and you’ll start to feel it!

2) A wrong concept of God. You say, ‘My dad says he forgives me, but each time I fail all my old offences are thrown in my face again’. Your Heavenly Father doesn’t operate that way. ‘I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remember your sins no more’. (Isaiah 43:25 NIV). God doesn’t bring them up; because He doesn’t remember them. All your sins were judged and paid for at Calvary. Once confessed, you’ll never again be charged with them, so rejoice and let them go. The Court of Heaven has ruled you ‘not guilty’.

Used with permission from UCB Word for Today. Free issues are available here for the UK and Republic of Ireland.