Saturday, January 21, 2012

Let Go Of Past Mistakes

Laughter can conceal a heavy heart; when the laughter ends, the grief remains. -- Proverbs 14:13

There’s a song titled “Suitcases” that is currently on the play list of contemporary Christian radio stations. The singer, Dara Maclean, really captures what it is like to be a Christian who refuses to let go of the baggage of past mistakes.

We do that, don’t we? We hang on to our pasts, refusing to believe that the blood of Jesus could just wash it all away. Oh, we know. We do. But believing in our hearts that He did it for all those ugly secrets is something else. It’s just not so easy to let go when deep in our hearts we’re just not sure.

We should be. We know that. But why is it so easy to accept forgiveness for some things but not for others? Perhaps because society tells us which sins are “acceptable” and which are not. God doesn’t categorize sin in that way. Sin is sin. But somehow it makes us feel superior to think we’re “better” than others because our sins aren’t as “bad.” Until, maybe, they are.

I get so frustrated sometimes when people look down on others because of where they’re at in life. It’s easy to judge. It’s not so easy to understand that every path is as different as every person. Some people take a hit and bounce up. Other people take a hit and fall down. It doesn’t make one person better than another; just different.

Funny how laughter hides so many sorrows, so many sins, so much baggage, so much pain. The other day one of the finest women I know said she couldn’t understand why an abused child wouldn’t tell someone or how a mother could look the other way. In her world, abuse just doesn’t happen. In the real world, it does.

An abused child doesn’t tell because of fear and rejection. It is their “normal.“ They carry those secrets carry into adulthood, coloring every moment of life. I wonder, sometimes, how many “failures” spent their childhoods as victims. I look around and see so many valiant people who have battled back, turned their lives around, emerged stronger than they ever thought possible. Few people would guess what they’ve endured. Smiling faces hide pain so well.

And when they do speak up, when they do share, they should be embraced. They have such courage. Why must they remain silent victims because their truth makes us so uncomfortable? They deserve the freedom that comes from finally letting go of those suitcases and realizing what it means to live a life free of baggage. You can be free too.

Imagine yourself standing there with all your past sins strapped around your waist. You’ve got all the sins others committed against you that you could not or would not stop hanging around your neck. All the ways you’ve acted out are strapped onto your back. Now imagine Jesus cutting the straps -- one after another after another.

That’s what freedom in Christ is. No more baggage. Take a deep breath. Feel His peace. You’re forgiven for it all. You’re finally free to be the person God created you to be.