Friday, April 20, 2012

Everyone Has A Sinful Past

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. -- Lamentations 3:23

A dear friend has a past she would like to forget. This wonderful person had an affair during her first marriage, something she still regrets. Not surprisingly, a divorce was the result. She has since remarried and rebuilt her life.

She has moved on as best she can. It has been many, many years. Her ex-husband has done the same. The people in the small town where she lives, well, they haven’t been so quick to forgive and forget. They still whisper about her great sin, reminding her with smirks of the person she used to be.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so difficult to bear if these were perfect people looking down on her. They aren’t. Some have cheated others in business. A few drink too much. Others have lied and done things they wouldn’t want anyone else to know. Yet they feel qualified to judge her.

I’m not trying to excuse what she did. But she admitted her mistake and has paid dearly for it. Most importantly, she confessed her sin to God and He forgave her. That has allowed her to move forward.

It’s not that she wouldn’t change it if she could. She can’t. None of us can change our pasts. And we’ve ALL got things we wish we hadn’t said or done.

So often other Christians are the worst judges of all. They remind me of the Pharisees, so caught up in their rules that they can’t get past them to see their own sin. It’s easy to see the sins of others. It’s not so easy to see our own.

Another women tells of her brokenness after the business she and her husband started, failed. Bankruptcy and financial destruction followed. She could handle the loss of possessions and even their home. But the humiliation and talk just about did her in.

Fortunately, she’s surrounded now by a church family in a different town who loves them both and could care less about their past. Maybe it’s because so many of us glance back and see our own skeletons.

Some people who judge and criticize are trying to tear others down in order to build themselves up. Perhaps they think their own pasts -- or presents -- won’t stink so much if they focus on the sins of someone else.

It’s easy to point your finger and gossip about someone else. It’s not so easy to look back and remember where you’ve been. I thank God that every day His mercies begin anew. My sins are forgiven. What about yours?