Sermon Central
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Breaking Free From Our Unwanted Past Series
Contributed by Glenn Arellano on Aug 28, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: Some people are not enjoying life because of their past. This topic is about Biblical principles of how we can go beyond our unwanted past.
What we are today is a result of our choices of our past experiences. Some, if not all, of our choices and personal mindset today are still being influenced or dominated by our past. Some people cannot move on and experience meaningful living because of their unwanted past. For us to experience fruitful and meaningful living we must learn to get rid of them. God has provided us a way to be free from them.
Truths about Life.
• Unwanted past can be a: Failure in life; Offenses done to us; Our family background; Personal sin.
• When we are unable to deal with our unwanted past, we live in constant Shame, Bitterness and Fear.
• People who are motivated by these have a tendency to cover them by: Performance ; Seeking Approval; Blaming Others; Material Possessions; Seeking Pity from others
Performance- “ Meeting certain things to feel good about ourselves “ overcoming pain and significance based in performance
Fear - Failure
Approval Addict- “Be approved by others to feel good about self “overcoming pain and significance based on pleasing others “
Fear - Rejection
Blame Game – “Blame others and find fault on others” - Significance based on Projection
Fear - Punishment
I must have that syndrome- overcoming pain and significance based on material things and outside appearance
Fear- Lack
Poor me Outlook - “ I am hopeless, I can’t change “-overcoming pain and significance e based on receiving pity from others “
Fear- Lose handle
• Only God through Jesus Christ and His timeless principles can set us free from shame. No human means of covering can take it away.
Breaking Free from our past happens when we…
A. Repent, Receive and release forgiveness.
(Isaiah 1:18; Matthew 18:21-35; Acts 3:19; 2 Corinthians 7:10)
• If our painful past is a sin that we have done, all we have to do is seek forgiveness from God and believe that He is more than willing to give it to us.
• If the unwanted past is caused by the reccurent remembering of the offense we must choose to release forgiveness for our own peace.
• Sometimes we need also to forgive ourselves.
B. Receive comfort from God by surrendering our hurts to Him.
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”
• Verbally sharing out our pain to others or to professional psychiatrist can be helpful but the help they can offer will still be limited. But if we humbly seek the comfort of God, he is more than willing and more able to comfort us because He created us and knows us even more than we know orselves.
1 David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, 2 and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.
3 When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 5 David’s two wives had been captured-- Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
7 David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. 18 David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.
• King David ,when he failed his men when their enemies took their wives and children that even led them to think of harming him, chose to encourage himself in the Lord instead of punishing himself. After that he was able to pick up himself to recover that which he lost.
• When we choose to surrender our pains to God and let Him comfort us, He gives us strenght and wisdom to move beyond our failures and pains.
C. Surrender to God’s process of restoration.( John 9:6)
• When God restores us, we must be willing to have it His way. Sometimes He does things not the way we want it to happen. We must trust and obey God just like a patient who must follow doctor’s prescription for healing to happen. The same way with God. He has given us Biblical principles as precription for our restoration.
