Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now is springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19

How often do you dwell on the past allowing it to hold you captive? Does reliving those moments cause you to feel tangled up and trapped? Do you begin to feel like you're suffocating in the thought of who you were then that you can't see the future planned out before you?

As unfortunate as it is- we cannot take circumstances of the past back, however, we can leave them in the past.

This is a concept that took me far too long to understand. It is hard to move forward in God's mercy and grace when your past consistently reminds you of who you were or what you may have done.

But God is so good.

Because of the Lord's faithful love
we do not perish,
because His mercies never end.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!
Lamentations 3:22-23

If you take don't take anything else from this- please understand this verse. God is faithful. God is good. And His mercies never end- they are new each and every morning.

Do not allow the enemy or those in your pasts who "knew who you were back then" to have even a bit of a say so in who God says that you are in Him.

Those opinions do not matter. Worrying about the thoughts of others and the past mistakes of your life can entangle you up and consume you. They distract you from the promises of the Lord. The enemy is good at what he does, but God is greater.

Seek Him and allow Him to fill you with His promises for you life and to free you from the lies the enemy will tell you.

I know all too well that it hurts knowing how some former friends or even family members may view you, but why do they have a say so in your life and who you are as a person? How are they getting to dictate your future when they're left in the past?

1 Corinthians 5:17 says:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old is gone. the new is here!

Your past should stay in the past. The thoughts that others have of you belong in the past. You are a new creation in Christ and His love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, peace, faithfulness, and goodness are your future.

If you want to be set free I pray that you'll seek Christ, because it is only in Him that you'll find the definition to freedom. If you are allowing your past to keep you in slavery, but you want to be free then look to the One who can set you free. If you want that freedom, but feel too trapped and don't know how to seek it, please talk to me or seek someone who can help you get there.

I no longer choose to allow the enemy and his lies to hold me captive. The opinions of others' no longer matter because I have a heavenly Father who loves me and has a great plan for my future, and He has one for you too- He's waiting for you. Jeremiah 29:11.