As I was driving to a matric reunion the other day, thoughts about my time at school started popping up in my head. And among them, unfortunately, were all the memories of so many negative or embarrassing things which had happened to me there.
When these negative
thoughts emerged, I made the mistake of entertaining them, remembering even the
finest details of my supposed humiliations – and I mean supposed, because of
course, everything gets magnified in your over-sensitive, emotion-driven teenager
mind! So that I had very mixed feelings
when I approached all my school friends waiting there for me.
The talk
around the table was light and joyful, and absolutely no one mentioned anything
that even remotely touched on the memories I had experienced in travelling
there, in fact, the memories shared were all of the good times we had had together. This of course altered my mood drastically,
and I really enjoyed being there with all of them.
Thinking it
over as I travelled home, I was wondering about the influence my memories and
the people from my past had on my present day perception of myself, of how I saw
myself as a person and how this influenced my feelings, when Holy Spirit suddenly revealed to me:
I am not defined
by the people or the memories from my past; I am defined by the God of my
present!
My God tells
me I am loved by Him, esteemed by Him, extremely valued by Him.
He tells me I am beautiful, accepted and without
spot or blemish.
He finds me
so attractive that He wishes to marry me.
In fact, He
died in my place, because His love for me is so overwhelmingly great!
And what did
I do to deserve all of this? Absolutely
nothing. He loves me with all my sinful
nature in place, before I even met Him.
He loves me even in agony on the cross, knowing that it is my sin that
is causing Him all this excruciating pain.
He loves me when I choose Him as my Lord and Master. And His love never fades away. He is
faithful, even when I am not.
Let go of
your past painful memories. Let go of
your past failures. Let go of your old
thinking habits, the way you are always putting yourself down because of past
experiences.
And step
into your Father’s loving arms, waiting here in your present, to lead you into
your new future!
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