Experiences from our past can have a strong effect on our lives and on our behavior, whether positive or negative. Great experiences can give us confidence and faith. But sometimes bad experiences can make us bitter, fearful, and untrusting, and produce a devastating effect on our lives and our relationships.
The good news is that negative experiences can also be turned into positives for our future, if we let God heal us and teach us what we should learn from them–allowing Him to conform us to the character of Christ. Learn to overcome negatives from your past and live the life God desires for you.
What’s Debt Got to Do with It?
I remember learning in high school about the craftiness of the former slave owners in the post-Civil War era. Yes, with the stroke of Abraham Lincoln’s pen, slaves were set free but there was a problem.
A big problem.
The slaves didn’t know how to be free, and the former slave owners took advantage of this immediately. (read more)
Being Single and Faithful
by Shana Schutte
When you think of vows, what comes to mind? Is it when a wife commits to stand by her terminally-ill husband? When a husband determines to provide for his family no matter how hard life gets? Or when a man and woman vow to stick together “’til death do us part?”
Vows like these are seen positively, as a God-given privilege, and are something most singles long for. However, not all vows are positive. In fact, some can sabotage romantic love and hinder singles from making it the wedding altar. (read more)
Victory Over Rejection
by Charles Stanley
Some prisons don’t require physical bars or chains; they are made by the emotional burden of rejection that affects every area of our lives. It causes us to believe lies about ourselves and undermines our relationship with the Lord. (read more)
Dealing with Romantic Regret
by Shana Schutte
Have you ever wondered how romantic regret can haunt some people their entire lives?
I recently thought about this when I watched a film about an elderly woman who was on her death bed. While her daughters stood nearby, she talked in her sleep, dreamt of her youth and murmured about a young man named Harris. She later confessed to her children that he was the only man she ever loved, which is why she believed it was her life’s most tragic mistake when she lost him. (read more)
How Do You Deal with Heartbreak?
How should we deal with heartbreak? How do you get over the other person when there is a disadvantage that you see that person every so often (such as church or work), and you cannot escape? (read more)
Your Past Can Be One of Your Best Friends
by Stephen Viars
The Bible gives us several ways our pasts can be among our best friends. Of course your past is not an “it.” It is not a separate entity. But it is a record, in part, of the way God has related to you and worked in your life. The goal is not to focus on “it” but on who God is and what He has done.
As you read the following examples of how the past can be your friend, ask yourself if you are allowing this silent companion to serve you the way God designed. Perhaps there are elements of your past that are like a good friendship waiting to be cultivated and explored. (read more)
Overcoming feelings of rejection:
Coping Through Rejection and Divorce
by Betty Troyer
Rejection is a cruel and degrading experience. Self-worth goes down the drain. You are torn to bits and pieces and you wonder if any of the pieces will fit again. I wondered who cares, who understands? I’m a failure, and why do I exist? (read more)
Singleness Does Not Equal Rejection
Many singles feel that singleness equals rejection. Even if they don’t feel that way themselves, often society looks upon them as rejects. Being single is not God’s second best. Some people find great fulfillment in being married, but there are others who can find the same fulfillment and sense of purpose in the single life. (read more)
Content in God’s Plan
The mistaken belief that singleness equals rejection can lead to insecurity and depression. If you are experiencing these feelings, it may help to remember that Jesus was always single. Although he never had a marriage relationship, he did have many friends. (read more)
Overcoming unforgiveness:
The Christian Grace of Forgiving
by Rev. Jerry Massey
Whatever secondary gains we cherish by clutching resentments are outweighed by the blessings of peace, joy, answered prayers, and usefulness to the Lord that might be sacrificed. When you place a seed into the ground its nature is to germinate fully to maturity. But if you inhibit the seedling as it sprouts upward, you will raise a deformed plant. Such is the prognosis for the child of God who builds a self-imposed wall of unforgiveness around himself. We become spiritually weak, sick, and deformed. How can we avoid this self-inflicted imprisonment and genuinely forgive such hurts? (read more)
Finding Freedom by Letting Go
Bitterness and anger toward the one who hurt you can destroy your happiness and peace. God wants to prosper you and give you hope for the future, but unforgiveness can serve as a stone wall, blocking your ability to experience the freedom he has for you. (read more)
Overcoming past failures:
God Will Forgive All of Your Sins
We need to understand, that as Christians, we have automatic forgiveness for all of our sins – no matter how bad or how vile we think any of these past sins may be. As long as we have properly confessed and repented of each one of these sins before God, then He will fully forgive us. (read more)
Forgiving Yourself – An Important Choice
There is a tendency in all of us to hold ourselves more accountable than we do others. Perhaps you have been one who can justify forgiving others, even for a heinous offense, yet you find no justification for forgiving yourself for an equal or lesser offense. Perhaps you believe that forgiving yourself is not even a consideration because you think you must hold yourself in a state of constant remembrance, lest you forget. Perhaps you believe there is a price, some form of life-long penance that you must pay. (read more)
Overcoming abuse:
Overcoming the Past: The Healing Process
Many people who have suffered abuse experience pain long after the abuse has ended. There is no quick fix for the pain of abuse. Healing is a process. Today’s scripture gives us keys to this process: focusing our mind on Jesus, trusting him, committing ourselves to him, leaning on him and hoping in him. As we do these things, he promises to guard us and keep us in perfect and constant peace. (read more)
Overcoming the Past: The Key
Victims of verbal abuse suffer constant criticism and condemnation from their abuser. They often continue suffering the effects of this abuse long after it has ended. They tend to criticize and condemn themselves and others, behaviors they learned from those who criticized and condemned them. (read more)
