Day 50
“The Search for Significance Devotional”
Robert S. Mc Gee
page 121-123
1992, Rapha Publications
that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Ephesians 4:22-24 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Too often, our self-image rests solely on an evaluation of our past behavior, being measured only through a memory. Day after day, year after year, we tend to build our personalities upon the rubble of yesterday’s personal disappointments.
Perhaps we find some strange kind of comfort in our personal failings. Perhaps there is some security in accepting ourselves as much less then we can become. That minimizes the risk of failure. Certainly, if we expect little from ourselves, we will seldom be disappointed!
But nothing forces us to remain in the mold of the past. By the grace and power of God, we can change! We can persevere and overcome! No one forces us to keep shifting our feet in the muck of old failures. We can dare to accept the challenge of building a new life.
Dr. Paul Tournier once compared life to a man hanging from a trapeze. The trapeze bar was the man’s security, his pattern of existence, his lifestyle. Then God swung another trapeze into the man’s view, and he faced a perplexing dilemma. Should he relinquish his past? Should he reach for the new bar? The moment of truth came, Dr. Tournier explained when the man realized that to grab onto the new bar, he must release the old one.
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What memories and wounds of the past enslave you?
How can you let them go and build a new identity, new qualities in relationships, and a new hope?
What sources of input reinforce a low view of yourself?
Jesus, the past has left some scars on me. Some of them are small, others are quite apparent. You know my wounds, You know my needs. It’s not always easy to let go of the past, but I realize I must if You are going to be in control of my present and future….
From my reflection this week I learned…(fill in what you learned below)
…About God.
…about myself.
…about my motivations.