The past haunts many, many people. We dwell in it. We hide ourselves in that murky outhouse of regret and breathe in past mistakes.

If you are anything like me, you circle back through right and wrong choices and try to play them out differently in your head. Rectifying the problem in your mind; but, somehow, bearing that guilt and apprehension in your heart.

Let’s remember – we are flesh vessels. We are tangible clay pots that can break and crumble in the elements of this world. Dry winds beat on our frame and freezing rain encompasses us with its ice tentacles. It is natural to feel despair when our flesh wins out.

However, dear heart, it is unhealthy to dwell in past mistakes and regrets. This actually holds back your effectiveness. Don’t let tears be your food, like the Psalmist in Psalm 42:3.

We are told to – ‘forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead!’ {Philippians 3: 13-14}.

Today is a new day – it’s a new day to strive to be like Christ and sprint toward the goal in the shining distance. Don’t look back. I think of Lot’s wife in this situation.

She and her family were living in one of the most sinful cities – and God gave them a chance to get out. Yet, there was one stipulation. They were told to ‘flee for your lives! Don’t look back…’ {Genesis 19:16}. And, as the story goes, Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.

Of course, it is important to learn from our mistakes. We all make them – and there should be some learning involved there. But, it is detrimental to live in those mistakes. In Christ, you are not defeated – and you carry within you the light of him.

Forget what is behind you and press on in his loving kindness. Jesus came to save the sinners and the lost, and sin is not pretty. Paul, one of the most influential for Christ, had a past filled with regret and guilt. Yet, he pressed forward and lived in the Spirit of the Living God.

Jesus came for redemption. He died to give life to sinners great and small. Walk forward and don’t look back. Flesh might hinder us – but it should not hold us back from walking forward on the trail blazed for us by Christ Jesus!