The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
While celebrating the New Year we hear a lot about making resolutions that may or may not become reality for us. The clock turning to 12:01 on New Year’s Day is different from any other night of the year. We are more likely to reflect on the past and we hope to not make the same mistakes over again.
Reflection is often a good thing, but what about those memories that cause you shame and deep regret. Many Christians struggle with shame over things that happened long ago, were confessed to God who forgave them, and possibly cannot be rectified with anyone hurt by our actions or words. If those people are still alive and reachable, then we do need to seek forgiveness and reconciliation from them. But others may have already passed away. We continue to beat ourselves up about what is past and cannot be changed.
First of all, we must understand that this is a tactic of spiritual warfare. Our enemy, the devil, loves to derail our Spiritual growth with baggage that tampers with our ability to serve God effectively. In Revelation 12:10, he is described as the “accuser of our brethren… who accuses them day and night before our God”, bringing into our lives haranguing allegations of what God has already forgiven and, in fact, forgotten. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin so that “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:10-12). The charges Satan brings against us are fake news.
Second, we are called to actively resist the devil. 1 Peter 5:8-9 (ESV) exhorts us to “Be sober-minded. Be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” Don’t allow any foothold of shame for past experience that God has dealt with. In prayer, remind God that this was done in the past; there is nothing you can do to change it no matter how much agony, time, and energy you might expend on it; ask God to protect you from this attack and remove the shame and pain at the memory of it.
Finally, God calls us to look forward, not back: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19, ESV). In your New Year reflections, do you see the “new thing” God has for you? Do you see the ways He is changing your life and growing you to become more like Him? Do you see the amazing ways He is answering your prayers and guiding you in the wilderness? Reflect on that.
