Are you trying to "Go Back"?

We all have specific ideas that jump into our minds when we think about what it means to "go back". I wanted to help clarify what I mean when I say those words and point out some specific dangers that they carry. Here are a few areas that people often wish they could go back to change:

1. Education. I find people all the time who talk about how different life could have been if only they had made different educational choices. If they had applied themselves more at school, or taken different advice on which degree to get then surely they would have ended up in a better place.

2. Spiritually/Morally. This is a big one. Many people live with regrets about spiritual or moral decisions they made in the past. They torment themselves with how different things could have been today had they only made a different decision back then.

3. Relationally. Whether this is business partnerships or marriage covenants, I often find people who are stuck analyzing past relationships and their impact on current circumstances.

I want to make something clear. I am not saying that we should just forget our past. What I am saying is that the past is useless to us if it stays in the past. And, when I spend my time remembering past decisions and the effects they have on my present then I am wasting my time. The only way to give your past any value is to allow it to change your future.

So you made a poor educational decision in the past. If you truly believe that then why are you not pursuing a new educational route today? Don't give excuses about cost, time, and availability. Either drop the guilt you are feeling about your past, or turn it into conviction that will lead you to a different future. There is a rule in my house that says, "You may complain about an issue and fix it. You may be silent about an issue and not fix it. You may not complain about an issue and not fix it." Be careful that you do not spend your time and energy locked up in the past. If the time you spend evaluating the past does not then correlate to equal or greater time planning for the future... then you are wasting your time.

When I see people who are constantly thinking about their spiritual and moral past I generally find that one of two possibilities is true. First I find people who have made great mistakes in the past. Because of that they believe they are not worthy to experience the life that more righteous people deserve. These people need to understand just how deep and wide the love of God is. Our past proves our need for Him and His grace; it does not define our worth to Him. The second person I find looks more like me. They look back on a past that seems full of good choices and right living and fall into the trap of believing that they deserve the good life. These people need to understand just how depraved and hopeless they are on their own. The sacrifice that Jesus made proves our need for Him and His grace. That grace defines our worth to Him, not our actions.

The simple fact is that we cannot change our past; but we can use it to evaluate our future. Just as the Old Testament was given to us as an example of what happens when people follow God and when they disobey God, so too our past experiences can be a personal example of the same. We waste time when we think about what it would be like to Go Back. We spend our time wisely when we think about what it means to Go Forward in light of what we have experienced in our past.