The past has a loud voice

 One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present. (Golda Meir)

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. (Ephesians 4:21-23)

We have many choices in this life, but there is no greater one than choosing to leave our old way of doing things behind and choosing to live by the grace and love of God within our lives. We may attempt to erase the past, but we oftentimes find it hard to 'get past' what we have done, guilt and even shame haunting us about some of the decisions we have made. The one thing we can never forget is that God is all about new beginnings. We may have chosen unwisely in the past, but we don't need to make those same choices today.

When we really 'hear' the truth, we also begin to 'learn' it. Hearing is the beginning of all change - in time, the more we choose to make those 'right choices' we have been learning while under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, the more we will find those things within our past have absolutely no room in our present. We cannot 'erase' it, but God can take the many leftover parts of our past - memories, scars, and even losses - and turn them into such magnificent things in our present. We cannot allow the past to rob us of our present, but sometimes our past has great lessons we can take along with us as we walk in the 'here and now' with Christ.

As we 'hear' and 'learn', we come into a place of trusting God with those 'past mistakes and regrets'. We may still bear the scars of those choices, but God has a way of turning what we may deem to be ugly and regrettable into something of beauty and purpose. While we struggle to find the purpose in it, he does not. How is trust like this developed? In our daily times with him, discovering his truth within the Word of God, and in times of listening. One of our greatest challenges can be in choosing to listen to what he says about our past and what our past continues to tell us about ourselves within our memories. Just sayin!