My Daily Devotional

Don’t Dwell on the Past

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”
Isaiah 43:18

Jesus tells us throughout the Bible to not dwell on the past, but to look to the future. This is difficult for many people to do however, as so often the tragedies they have incurred during their lives continue to haunt them. The death of a mother or father when you were young, an alcoholic parent, an abusive relationship, guilt over a serious mistake you made in your teenage years, and other situations can cause most people to continue questioning, and having self-doubts about these events. But it is very important to remember that your past is over, and nothing will ever change what has happened to you. Just remember that God never consults your past to determine your future. You need to move beyond the scars of yesterday, and look to what is ahead of you. Staying in the past and having a pity party because of the things that have befallen you will only keep you from becoming the most you can be in the future. As I counsel people, the one thing that keeps coming up is something that has happened in their past, that is preventing them from moving forward. The “what if this had not happened I would not be in the position I am today”, is something that keeps so many people from reaching the place they want to be. “What if” keeps people from reaching their dreams and being the person they want to be. We need to stop advertising our past and continuing to dwell on it. Each of us has had adversities in our past which may have hindered us physically, emotionally, mentally and sometimes even spiritually, but dwelling on these adversities does not help us reach our dreams and ambitions. I would encourage each of you to stop looking where you have been and start looking where you are going. Never build your future around your past.

(Many of my readers have asked if my Daily Devotionals have been published and if they could purchase them. The Devotionals I am posting are from My Daily Devotional Volume III which was published in 2009 and can be purchased at amazon.com or from me at robbrock@comcast.net)