Something I’d Rather Forget…

This is the first post in a series entitled Erasing the Past.

We like to talk about the past. Well, I guess that statement is only half-true.  We actually like to discuss the good memories in our past and forget about the bad ones.  It is much easier to relive accomplishments, successes, and happy times while doing our best to erase the inabilities, failures, and disappointments.  Our trophies are on display for everyone to see, but our shame is hidden away.  We’ve become experts at hiding things, especially the things we do not want others to discover.  Here is the problem with this thought pattern.  You cannot hide the past from yourself.  No matter how hard you work at tucking the past away, it always has a way to resurface.  Why do shameful parts of our past reappear?  The answer is simple.  Guilt and shame return when the sins that haunt our past have not been properly handled.  Rather than facing the past, we bury it in a shallow grave.

There are many dangers in concealing the past, but here are two of them:

• Unconfessed sin negatively affects our relationship with God and others.  Proverbs 28:13 reminds us that, “People who conceal their sins will not prosper….”  There can be no prosperity in the life of the one who hides the past.
• Unconfessed sin affects our well-being.  Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked run away when no one is chasing them….”  Since the past still haunts the wicked, they always believe someone is going to find them out.  Are you living in fear of being found out?