I have a past; you have a past. Everyone has a past. What we thought, said, and did are done. As much as we may desire, we cannot change the past. It has already happened, and we can do nothing about it.

We are proud of some things in our past which positively affect us. But because none of us are perfect, we regret some things in our past and wish we could forget about them. There is nothing we can do to change the past. But there is something we can do to change the present.
​
Since it is likely rare that a positive past harms our lives, let’s discuss the challenges we face with negative experiences. We call these negative experiences baggage.

​Unpack Your Bags
Holding onto your past keeps you from living a joyful life in the present. If you like to hold onto and relive the negative things that happened in your past, now would be a good time to stop doing that. Unpack your bags and take a look at all those things that you feel bad about.

Did you do something to hurt someone and now you feel guilty? Did someone do something to harm you and now you feel hurt or degraded? Analyze all the negative things you are holding onto. Determine what it is about those things that cause you feel bad, then let them go.

​Let It Go
If someone hurt you, let it go. If you are caught up in sin, let it go.

Stop beating yourself up. You weren’t meant to live your life based on your past behavior. Remember, Christ sacrificed His life for us so that we could live a life free from the bondage of sin that you were or are now engaged in.  Or, perhaps, sin was placed upon you because someone laid the burden of their sin upon you.

When someone lays their sin upon you, you are likely to respond to their sin. When someone lies to you, lies about you, or blames you for something, you are likely to respond in a way where now you are acting in a sinful way. For example, someone who is jealous may subject you to unfair treatment because of their sin of jealousy. And, now you live a life of anger or fear because of what they might say or do out of their jealous nature. You are now, also, in bondage of their sin and that, in turn, may place you in sin, depending upon how you respond to their sin. Sin can produce a vicious cycle.

Let go of the sin by giving it up to the Lord. Ask the Lord to help you through the turmoil and anguish of sin and He will help you. Meet the Lord with a heart to receive and give forgiveness.

​Forget about the past, living life as if it never happened in the first place, because guess what, when the Lord forgives you, it is forgotten. Your slate is wiped clean, giving you an opportunity to live a guilt-free life. Once forgiven, you are a brand new person in the eyes of the Lord. So, let go of your past and live anew.
​
We are all sinners. We all do bad things. The best life practice is to recognize our sin, deal with it, then let it go. Acts 3:19 says that our sins may be blotted out.

​Remember, Jesus Christ was sent to us as a Savior to take on the burden of our sins. He sacrificed His life so that our sins could be forgiven and we could have grace with our Father, God.

​Begin a New Life
We cannot change the past, and we cannot predict the future. The most we can do is live life today in a way that leads to a promising future. God loves you no matter who you are and what you have done in the past. He promises that when you recognize lousy behavior and ask Him to cleanse you of them (forgiveness), He will grant it (forgiveness) to you and make way for you to have a life in the Heavenly Kingdom.
​
Give yourself a better chance of a better future by letting go of past hurts and bad habits. 

Hebrews 4:15 (English Standard Version)

Copyright March 23, 2023 Marlene Bertrand

Faith is a difficult concept for people to grasp.

​For those of us who profess our love for Christ, faith is one of those things we must have, and there are no ifs, ands, or buts. We either have faith, or we don’t have faith. There is nothing in between.

Strong Faith Carries Us Through Life
We live in a chaotic world. Every day every moment, we hear of senseless acts of violence. We experience hardships and loss that can never be recovered.

God has a beautiful plan for us in a heavenly kingdom that is created for those who are faithful to Him. Faith understands that the world we live in today is not the ultimate world destined for us to live in forever.

No matter what we see, hear, and experience, we are destined for a better place. Only faith will carry us through to the life we are meant to live forever.

We have power through our Lord, Jesus Christ.
We must keep our eyes on the Lord, and as we make decisions, we must make them based on what pleases our Lord. We must pray, and as we pray, we must have faith in the prayers we lift to our Heavenly Father.
​​
Having a solid and high level of faith helps us endure this earth. Let us take our troubles to our Lord, Jesus Christ, who strengthens us, for it is through Him that we have the power to do everything worthy of His blessings. As is written in the book of Matthew, whatever we desire as it pleases the Lord, we can achieve through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

​Have Faith
Faith is central to our daily walk with God. Faith is based on the Word of God, and as we read in Matthew 17:20, we cannot go wrong when we have faith. Let’s keep our eyes on the Lord and make faith-based decisions.
​
Let us remember that without faith, pleasing God is impossible. Why? Because anyone who comes to Him through the Lord must believe He exists. And we must believe that because of our faith and earnest service to Him, He rewards us.