What have we learned from past mistakes?

Hopefully we’ve learned not to repeat them, but before we can learn from them, we need to admit we’ve made them. Once we do that, without placing blame on everyone and everything else, we can confess it out, be forgiven by God and forgive ourselves.

Yet there are times we dwell. We ponder. We rewind and rerun tapes within our minds.

Let’s remember, good  memories can bring joy and recalling them is pleasing to the soul.

But the memories of past mistakes can bring sadness, heartache, and anxiety. We may have made unhealthy, and unwise choices then, but we can make healthy and wise choices now.

Let’s turn our heads from looking back, and keep looking ahead. Let’s be good stewards of the time God has given us.

Because dwelling on past mistakes is a mistake.

It will free us when we stop unhealthy thoughts that begin with:

“If only I would have…”

“I wish I hadn’t….”

“If I had only….”

And replace them with healthy thoughts that begin with:

“From now on, I will…”

“In Christ I am a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come…”

“I will not spend my current time on negative things of the past. Just as I can’t purchase something new with money already spent, I cannot buy back the past with time from the present…”

When we let go of past mistakes, we can look forward to new beginnings.

It won’t always be easy, but God is always there and He is outside of time.

I’ve made mistakes, we all have, and I suspect we may make a few more, but here’s the good news:

When we are in Christ, we are new; the old is gone, the new has come. It doesn’t mean we lose all memory of who we were before, but it does mean we are no longer bound by our past. We are free of it.

We may still be dealing with the consequences of it, but that’s part of the lesson, isn’t it?

But even though God may allow us to experience consequences, it’s not because He doesn’t love us, it’s because He does.

And even if we’ve teetered off the right path, it doesn’t mean we’ve missed the plans He has for us.

Although we may have missed out on a few blessings along the way, it doesn’t mean we can’t experience new blessings .

We may have taken a detour, but when we draw near and seek God, He reprograms our spiritual GPS back onto that right path.

It’s a new day, so let’s walk in this truth:

Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
 “Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:18-19

God paves a roadway through our wilderness, and makes rivers in our desert, so we can experience freedom in the present and a future filled with hope.

Are we ready for the freedom of new beginnings?