Letting Go of Your Past

This morning I was going through some old Hot Wheels cars to give to my little nephew, Jackson. He loves playing with them and I knew my brother and I had a bunch of old ones that he would love. Now, when I was little I played with Barbies and stuff(big surprise there, I know!), but I really enjoyed collecting toy cars and placing them in neat rows, racing them, and washing them in the bathtub like a complete nerd. As I was going through the buckets of toy cars this morning to find some to give to Jackson, I found the cars that were  my favorite when I was little. I knew exactly which ones I loved the most--it was like a blast from the past. I remember this little Pepsi race car that I loved so much because the doors would open and close and I remember the little red CRX car because my dad drove one, and I remember the Batmobile because I loved watching the Batman cartoons when I was little. For a few minutes I remembered some things about my childhood that I had completely forgotten. 

As I was thinking about this, it reminded me of the sermon I heard at church yesterday and about a statement that really hit hard with me, "Satan uses our past against us." Our past can make us feel like God could never love us or forgive us because of the things we've done, but Psalm 103:12 says, "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west." There have been times that I've hung on to the things of my past, not because I want to, but because I feel like that those things now identify the person I've become, which is not true in God's eyes. He sees through my past and sees Jesus who paid the price for me. Though it's a simple truth I have to remind myself of it over and over again so that I don't let the things of my past keep me from knowing who I am in Christ. Just like how I used to play with my toy cars everyday when I was little, I eventually grew up. I went to school, I learned how to ride a bike, I met kids my own age and started playing with them--playing with little toy cars wasn't appealing any more. It would be a little strange if I was still playing with them as a college student. :) And just like how I grew up physically and had to let go of my childish ways, I know that I'm growing spiritually and I'm learning to let go of the things that I shouldn't be holding on to anymore. God has a far greater plan for my future and He doesn't want me spending my present dwelling on the things of my past. 

Now, today, when I came across the hundreds of Hot Wheels cars, it reminded me of my past--but I didn't get down on my hands and knees and begin racing them and playing with them like I did when I was little. I looked at them, reminisced for a bit, and then moved on.  I know that there will be days that my past sins will come across my mind because of something that might trigger them, but it doesn't give me an excuse to dwell on them. On those days, it allows me to look back at my life and to see how I've grown in Christ, just like today I saw how I've grown since I was a little kid. "When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things." -1 Corinthians 13:11