You choose

I read a great quote this morning. I don't have a clue who said it...just know that it didn't originate with me. But it sure made sense.

"Yesterday or tomorrow...the choice is yours."

I got to thinking about the number of people I know who are unable to let yesterday go. I have spent untold hours counseling married couples, families and individuals who are living life in the rear view mirror. For some, it's a past mistake that they just can't seem to let go. They have asked for forgiveness, tried to make amends and even offered retribution. All to no avail.

Others have untold amounts of bitterness because they were wronged or hurt in their "yesterdays." They hold a grudge that builds walls, ruins relationships or leaves them isolated from those who want to live in community with them. The inability to move beyond yesterday is a huge obstacle to embracing your tomorrow...or even enjoying your today. But the greater problem in my mind is that holding on to yesterday too tightly reveals a lack of faith in a God who has forgiven yesterday and is preparing tomorrow for you.

The Bible speaks to this subject when it says that God removes our sin as "far as the east is from the west." God was speaking to our bitterness when He led Paul to write, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV

The choice is, indeed, yours--living life through your windshield or your rear view mirror. The change in perspective will make a world of difference in every area of your life. And, more important, it's the way God intended us to live our lives in Him.