“Sin is not satisfied until it dominates and controls us! It’s typically our own sins from the past that remain unprocessed or the sins of others that have impacted us personally that we have left unaddressed that have the power to enslave us in the present. ”
A number of years ago, I watched a deeply inspiring movie called UNBROKEN, based on the real-life story of Olympian Louie Zamperini. Louie was an Italian born American soldier who was captured by the Japanese army in 1943. His story is one of captivity, torture, rescue and devotion to God.
What made the story so powerful, wasn’t only Louie’s resiliency to endure such mistreatment without losing hope, but it was what Louie chose to do after he was delivered that was remarkable. Louse fulfilled his promise to devote his life to the service of God, which included the virtuous act of forgiving those who had tormented him for so long while he was in Japan. He sought out his captors and forgave them!
Louise understood a life-altering principle: “An unaddressed past has power over us in the present.” Louie was experiencing the freedom of life in America, but until he forgave his captor’s he remained incarcerated in a prison of resentment, anger and bitterness. Forgiveness received and forgiveness offered … is the way of true freedom!
Scripture teaches; “…if the Son sets free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36) and “that it was for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Genesis 5:1). Freedom is a theme in the Bible that begins as far back as Genesis 4. God speaks with Cain and cautions him; “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master” (Genesis 4:6–7).
Sin is not satisfied until it dominates and controls us! It’s typically our own sins from the past that remain unprocessed or the sins of others that have impacted us personally that we have left unaddressed that have the power to enslave us in the present.
Paul the Apostle wrote these words to the Philippians; “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14). But it’s hard to ‘forget’ the past, and I’m not entirely sure that Paul is instructing us to do so. There are admonitions in Scripture for us to ‘remember’—in fact, the Lord Jesus called us to observe the Lord’s Supper “in remembrance of him” (1 Corinthians 11:25). It’s a challenge sometimes to know what to remember and to know what to forget.
It seems that Paul was encouraging the early Christians NOT to be preoccupied with the past. Constantly ruminating on the past, leaves us powerless to live well in the present. The past steals energy from us when we allow the painful or regrettable moments to dominate our thinking! It is also true that an ‘unaddressed’ past can also rob us of peace, joy and freedom in the future.
We are offering “Freedom Session” at King Street Community Church starting January 29th at 7pm to help people process their pain and resolve the issues that have left them without the freedom we desire. God wants to deliver us from the ‘slavery of Egypt’ so that we can step into the promise of life with God – characterized by freedom, joy, peace and hope. If you want to learn more about Freedom Session, and the way people have been impacted you can watch stories of others who have been through freedom sessions and you can register online.
Freedom is God’s will for all of us! It’s a choice to step into it and do the hard work of processing our past with the Spirit’s help and a safe community of love and care.