3 years ago, God invited me into a process. He called me out of hiding & denying. He invited me to share my whole heart with Him and to receive healing & freedom from bondage. The process has been painful but I wouldn't go back. Somewhere along the way though, the Deceiver slithered his way in and baited me with a lie...which I bit, hook, line & sinker. The lie was this: You can't escape your past. It defines who you are.
It's a common belief that we are products of our past, and in part, it's true that our past influences us, but that's not the whole truth. In Christ it doesn't matter what our past was like: what we did or what others did to us. It doesn't matter because in Christ we are forgiven & set free. If we want to know how to define ourselves, there is a truth that hasn't changed for thousands of years found in Scripture. It's the truth of who God is and who we are because of who He is.
How do I know I don't have to be defined by my past anymore? That I don't have to dredge it up to try and figure out why I did x,y, or z? Because He told me so:
"My lover spoke and said to me, "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me." (Song of Solomon 2:11-13)
How many times have I read this scripture and never did I see it the way Jesus spoke to me just the other day. He was saying to me, Morgan, look! The past is over, I am calling you out to be with me. Stop trying to stay in the winter. It's over and gone. Come with me into spring-time, into freedom from the winter.
The gospel is so profoundly simple: I am dark because of sin. I am lovely because of Him. Though darkness is a fact, it doesn't define me. He does & in Him I have victory over the darkness.
Jesus, thank you that in you I am set free from the law of sin and death. Let nothing define me but you. As I seek you, help me to come into the knowledge of the truth of who you are and who you say I am. I pray this for all of those who call on your name, that they might come to understand this truth and live in the freedom that is already theirs in you. In Jesus' name, Amen.
