Chapter 3 - Your Past Can Be One of Your Best Friends

Our past, when viewed from God's perspective in Scripture, can be something upon which we can draw in time of need. The cumulative events of our lives are not necessarily something to be discarded because we consider them painful, shameful, or difficult to reckon with.

A biblical view of the past takes into account the fact that God is sovereign, that he foreordains whatsoever comes to pass, and that--because of our union with Christ--he works all things together for good, according to his perfect plan.

Do you regularly think back to how God has saved you in Christ?

Can you recall specific things that God has delivered you from?

As Christians, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are to grow into the likeness of Christ our Savior and Lord; however, we are still human--we falter and fail. But consider this:

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

(1 John 4:9-10 ESV)

The eternally-firm foundation of Christ is the place from which we begin to see our past as a resource that God uses to enable us to walk in a manner pleasing to him.