Start Your Life Afresh

If you live long enough in life, you've have definitely known what it feels like to have regrets. You know what it is like to have done somebody wrong, make mistakes and just blow it big time. We have all been there and some of us may be there today.

The good news about it all is that no matter what we have done, we can still turn things around and start fresh and new. If we are willing to change, willing to recognize how bad we've messed up and then be willing to do something about it, we can give our lives a new start. Former alcoholics have done it when they decided to put the bottle away for the last time and be sober. Former drug addicts have done it when they decided that their last hit was really their last hit. While we may not be able to avoid the consequences of our actions, what we can do is change our lives now for the better. This is something that any of us can do.

My life today is different than the life that I used to live. For example, I used to cuss and did so freely. But one day, I decided to change that and dedicated my life to having pure speech. Many people who cuss make excuses that it is just the way that they are, which is true in a sense, but if those people were to put as strong an effort into changing the way they speak as they do defending it, they would find that they can take those four letter words out of their vocabulary for good. It is possible, but the question is are we willing to do what it takes to get there?

Some of you who are reading this have been defined too long by your past and it is time for you to stop living up to the past and create a new life for yourself now. Sometimes you feel that because of the things that you did in the past that you don't deserve to try and be anything different. And when people constantly bring up your past to you, it discourages you and makes you wonder why even try to continue on a better path when people are still condemning you for things you've already stopped doing. It's hard and that's part of the consequences of bad choices we make in life. But what needs to matter in your life is not what others think of you, it's what you know you're doing is right and better. Encourage yourself knowing that you are a better person than you once were regardless of what others say or think.

I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.

-Isaiah 43:25 (ESV)

An aspect of the gospel of Jesus Christ is based on the fact that we have messed up mightily towards God but through Jesus, we are offered the opportunity to start again with a clean slate (the forgiveness of sins). Even God is one who isn't trying the hold the past over people's heads. The whole idea of repentance is that if we are willing to change our ways for the better, God is willing to let all the things in the past go and even forget them. And not only that, He will also give us the ability to live that better life and to not become entangled in the past life again. Yes, a new life is something that even God would want for us.

I want you to encourage you today that if you are tormented by your past, whether it be poor decisions that you have made and/or horrific things that you've had to go through, you have the opportunity to change all of that. It isn't going to be easy but the effort you put into turning your life around will yield a great reward. I once met a woman who was part of a Mormon fundamentalist sect where she was one of several wives and suffered terrible abuse. Today, she speaks out against the sect and does not allow the past to define who she desires to be today. Her name is Carolyn Jessop and you can do a Google search and find out more about her story.

Keep your head up and know that if you're living for the better, you are on the right track. Live and know who you are today. Yesterday has past, what you are today is what matters.

Till next time,

LandoRigs