One of the wonderful features of London's tube stations (there aren't many, I hasten to add) is that many have motivational messages on sign boards. I'll be the first to admit that between being stuck in between sweaty strangers on the carriage and glaring at signs which inform you of delays, it's an unlikely place to find positive inspiration but hear me out.
Station workers across the capital have a tradition of writing philosophical comments or questions on whiteboards and placing them at the station entrance. Their positioning means that anyone who walks in or out of the station is met with an uplifting or stirring thought for the day.
As I made my way home yesterday evening, I noticed one of these boards. The message related to the necessity of making peace with your past in order to enjoy your present. The sentiment stuck in my head and I contemplated its meaning and how, as Christians, many of us unnecessarily allow our past to taint our present. There are a long list of reasons why we may do this and the specifics will differ for each individual but they can often be traced back to universal emotional responses and certain concepts.
Here are three of the things that can stunt our present joy and what we can do instead to keep them at bay.
Shame
Sinning can destroy other people's love for us, but it can also destroy the love that we have for ourselves. When this happens we feel ashamed of not only what we've done but who we are. This feeling of shame about things in our past prevents us from forming healthy relationships with other people and with God in our present.
Is the shame of past mistakes ruining your present? One thing it's crucial that you remember is that your past sins don't destroy God's love for you.
Unforgiveness
Unforgiveness, in this context relating to us not forgiving those who have wronged us, holds us down and drains life from us. When we fail to forgive we are effectively carry around deadweight with us. Whether it takes the form of being in a bad mood in their presence or devising a plan to serve them payback, if we haven't forgiven someone, we're bringing the negativity of their actions into our present.
The only way to remove the blight that this can have on our present is by forgiving them for what they've done. By doing so we remove the grip of the grudge and the feelings of guilt on our part for not doing what we know we should.
Unrepentance
Making peace with your past isn't the same as "moving on" and acting as if nothing happened. We can't move upwards and onwards until we've dealt with what's pulling us back. We're also more likely to commit the same sin again if we haven't made an admission that it damages us personally and our relationship with Christ.
We don't need to dwell on our past, that's not what Jesus spoke about or stood for, but we do need to deal with it and that means acknowledging our errors, apologising for them and asking for forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
None of us are without sin (Romans 3:23). We all have a past but because of Jesus we also have a future. However, the route to the future is through forgiveness, our own and that of others.
