Don't judge me by my past, I don't live there anymore

We have all completed a day and looked back and come to the realization that not all was done in a good way. In fact, many days we have to admit that we have failed. Whether it is in something we intended to do or something we never intended to do – we failed.

Modernity says to shake it off and go back and try harder the next time. This time of year we hear about setting some new resolutions. I’m told that many of these will not make it a month. Apparently we don’t 

try hard enough. 

What if trying harder is not the answer? What if trying harder is in fact a way of denying what God really wants from us after all? Think about it – we try harder but still cannot save ourselves. We try harder and still hold within us the guilt and shame of our past and our sin. … my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. (Psalm 32.3-4) 

The answer is not trying harder but getting clean through confession. Yes, we have to own our failures before the Lord. But here’s the good news- that’s the way to get clean, to be washed, to be covered. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"--and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah (Psalm 32.5)

The answer then is not ritual it is reality. A ritual requires you to try harder. The reality requires you to just own your need. Ritual will not bring about transformation.  

I’ve come to own my past! And my testimony is that Jesus has cleansed me. My past is now covered by what he did not what I’ve done. So I can now declare through Jesus: Don’t judge me by my past, I don’t live there anymore. 

Always Enthusiastic,

Rusty Newman