Ep 45: Living in the Past Kills the Future

Speaker1: Well good morning I'm Daniel Dopp and this is for your Sunday morning drive. The short podcast with the goal of providing your motivation, your drive on your way to worship and recentering your mind on the spiritual things on those hectic Sunday mornings. We are brought to you in partnership with the Ministry League Network of Podcasts. You can always check out a link to their YouTube channel in our show notes of every episode, or find out more information on for your Sunday morning drive comm. I hope you're having a wonderful day today. Thank you for joining us this morning. Just a quick note the inspiration for today's episode comes from an old blog post I did over a decade ago, where I would take an interesting message that I saw on a church sign and expand on those thoughts. I actually had a series of these posts back in the day, and you'll likely see those recycled into podcast episodes in the future. That being said, I have a small favor to ask. If you're driving along and you happen to see an interesting message on a church sign, or you see a good one in front of the congregation where you worship, snap a picture. And if you would send it my way via the website, I'll be sure to put a link to the submission form in the show notes of today's episode. I'd love to be able to use those in future episodes to make the show a little bit more interactive. And I thank you in advance for your help. Well, I think that just about clears things up for today. Let's go ahead and get the show on the road. This is episode 45. Living in the past kills the future. Let's go to church.

Speaker2: Are we there yet?

Speaker1: Years ago, I saw a message on the sign in front of the Washington Avenue Church of Christ here in Evansville. And it read, Never let Yesterday use up too much of today. And that really stuck with me because so often that's the case. I often struggle with this, and I think many others do as well. What I did or did not do yesterday can sometimes eat me up inside, especially when it comes to my faithfulness to God. You know, guilt, regret, frustrations about past sins or mistakes. They can eat away at our insides like a parasite, and sometimes it becomes so bad that we just cannot shake it often to the point where we find it difficult to be sincerely productive for God, all because we are hung up on things that have already been forgiven, already forgiven. That's the key. Because if we've really repented of our past actions, though, we may stumble from time to time, we are forgiven by God. First John one seven through nine says, but if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His son cleanses us from all sin. But if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Speaker1: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You know, I think that sometimes it's harder for me to forgive myself than it is for God to forgive me. God is eager, so eager to forgive us. He sent his son so that we could be washed of our sins in baptism. But as humans, I think we tend to feel that in some odd way, God's forgiveness is just too simple. It's almost as if we say, I have your son's blood on my hands. I fail you daily and you still forgive me. The great thing is that the answer that comes back from God is simply yes. Isn't his forgiveness? Isn't his grace a wonderful and amazing thing? But there is another much needed reminder here. Sometimes our sins aren't the only things that keep us tied up in the yesterday and prevent us from living in the present. Many times we get so caught up in how others have wronged us that we don't forgive them, and that keeps us from moving forward, from growing spiritually and yes, from even being forgiven ourselves. Matthew chapter six, 14 and 15 for if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your father will not forgive your transgressions.

Speaker1: Friends, we must make sure that we realize that while there may be consequences and long lasting impacts from sins both committed by ourselves and others that could follow us through life, the guilt and the weight of those sins doesn't have to. And I know this verse applies to worrying about today, but I think that the same thoughts could be applied to worrying about those things in our past. Matthew chapter 634. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. So the question comes to us, are we letting yesterday use up too much of today? Well, the good news is twofold. You can be forgiven and you can be forgiven. We need only to choose that path and keep pressing on. Well, those are my thoughts for your Sunday morning drive. Now it's time to hear yours. Our discussion questions for this week are. Does guilt, shame, or regret of past sins prevent us from being effective Christians today? Do we harbor ill will against those that may have wronged us instead of just choosing to forgive? And what are some things that keep you from being focused on the present and future of your service to the Kingdom of God?