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| PHOTO CREDIT: flickr.com |
"Every January I resolve to get fit," Marty told me in late December.
"So what happens?"
"I fail before the first of February."
Many of us, like Marty, start each January with the decision to defeat the problems that tripped us in the past.
I like that idea—forgetting all the foolish and wrong things we said and did, and uniting our energies to move ahead this year.
Yes, I like the idea.
It's not possible for most people, but it's still a good idea.
The
past remains part of our lives. The mistakes of the previous year don't
disappear. We resolve not to repeat them, and we can build on the shame
of previous blunders to correct our present and future actions.
Think
of Marty again. He doesn't really plan for his future because he's
still tied to the past failures. It's the cliché, "I've failed every
time I tried." He hasn't changed and he'll do the same things this year
that he did all the other times.
Most
of us don't openly admit it but we figure in the past when we stand in
the present and project an elegant future. But the previous failures
haunt us and it doesn't take long for most individuals to say, "It's
futile." Those old fiascos paralyze us or make us doubt we can change.
My
friend Ron Heiber has a saying that resonates with me: "God never
consults our past when planning our future." That means our loving God
forgives us. And with that is implied, "Go and sin no more."
What
if we thought of life that way? What if we were able to start each year
as if it were new and unblemished? We wouldn't worry about what we
didn't do previously or how we aborted our best plans. We'd be able to
focus only on what we can do now—and do it with a fresh start.
"God never consults our past when planning our future," Ron said.
"I don't have to remember my past when I plan my future," we can say.
(Taken from Cec Murphey's January 2016 newsletter)
