Yea, you have to eulogize your past in order to appreciate your present. See, if you keep allowing the past to hold you hostage, you’ll never be free to enjoy the life that you’re supposed to have. No, I am not saying you have to go out and purchase a casket, print obituaries, pick a color for the family to wear or even plan a program but what I am saying is; you need to bury the past and leave it there. You’re constantly comparing your current husband/wife to your ex which in due time will make them your ex too so stop with all that. Obviously whatever you had with the past one wasn’t what you needed or wanted because they became your ex otherwise they would still be here. Stop constantly bringing up the bad things you used to do because if you don’t do them anymore then they shouldn’t matter. Now let me make this clear – there is a big difference in sharing your testimony and moaning about your test (you’ll get that in a minute). See, sharing your testimony is telling about all the things you’ve been through by rejoicing in the place you are now but moaning about your test is having a pity party every time you think about some of the things you got yourself in. Sharing your testimony is showing the scars you have after going through some things by praising God for your deliverance and healing but moaning about your test is when you still cry each time you see the scar on your body. Sharing your testimony is not being afraid to let folk know that you used to be a drug addict but now you’re addicted to God and His word. Sharing your testimony is when you aren’t afraid to let folk know you used to be an alcoholic but now you’re a worship-aholic, a shout-aholic, a dance-aholic and a rejoice-aholic and willing to walk on for God. Sharing your testimony is when you are aren’t ashamed for folks to know that you used to walk the streets but now you walk for God with your head held high. Sharing your testimony is when you don’t answer to what you used to be called, you don’t allow what others to say to change your mood, you don’t let how you used to look to decide how you look now and when you don’t folks talking about you because it means you’re on their mind.
Yes ma’am, yes sir; you’ve got to eulogize your past because if you’re still holding on to it then it’s burying you. If you used to be in an abusive relationship and you got out; stand and look at yourself in the mirror and bury it so that it will no longer haunt your present. If you used to steal, then stand up and look at yourself in the mirror and bury it so that it is no longer hanging on your back. If you used to be a miserable mean person raining on everybody’s parade, stand up and look at yourself in the mirror and bury it so that it is no longer hanging over your head. Baby, the only way for you to let go of the past is simply by letting go. You can’t keep visiting it every chance you want to have a pity party because then you’ll bring up all the past emotions that came along with it. If you keep visiting the place you buried the fact the person you thought was your “boo thang” did you wrong, you’ll keep bringing up the hurt you had when you found out they weren’t all that and a bag of chips. If you keep visiting the place you buried the things you used to do and the person you used to be, then you’ll keep bringing up the way folks used to make you feel, the hurt you had when folks did you wrong and the betrayal you felt when folks turned their backs on you; so stop going. This is why the bible says in Isaiah 43:18, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.”
Don’t you know that God has brought you through all of the old things you’ve been through for a reason? If He wanted you to die in your past then you wouldn’t be living now. If God wanted the drugs you used to do to kill you then you would have overdosed a long time ago instead of having a chance to overcome it. If God wanted the cancer to take you out, then He wouldn’t have allowed you to be 1, 3, 5 or even 10 year cancer free. If God was meaning to kill you in your past then He wouldn’t have allowed that bullet to miss your heart by mere inches or that car to stop just at the time it should have hit you head on. If God wanted you to die at the hands of that man or woman who found joy being an abuser, He wouldn’t have allowed you the chance to get away that night they almost beat you to death. See, God has a purpose for your life and He has a purpose for the things we go through and He doesn’t allow those things to dictate who we are meant to be. Oh, you don’t have to believe me but believe His word because the bible says in Acts 3:19 “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away,” Isaiah 44:22 that says, “I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free,” and Isaiah 43:19 which says, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Still not enough, read Ezekiel 36:26 which says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Don’t you get it yet? God doesn’t care about your pasts because it is not your past that defines you which is why Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now; let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” If God only chose folk who had a clean past then He wouldn’t have anybody on His side. If God only blessed folks who did no wrong, we’d all be tore up from the floor up. If God only called folks who never do wrong, then where would we be? So, if God can forgive and forget, then why do you allow folks to keep bringing up the things of your past? You need to tell folks who can’t seem to see your change – “Yea, I know I used to do this but I don’t anymore. Yea, I used to go there but I don’t anymore. Yes, I used to be that but I’m not anymore so stop acting like it and stop bringing it up and if you keep calling me by my old name, my old self and my past I will no longer answer. Get to know the new me that is now and you’ll find that you’ll like me better and if you can’t, then put one foot in front of the other and keep walking!
Lakisha, the Author 