Echoes Of The Past!!!
Our Memories Mould Us...Or Do They???
Recently I heard several songs from my high school era (late 80’s-early 90’s) and they brought with them memories - and it got me thinking and praying about what it is to engage with the past, and focussing on our memories. This Bible study is the outgrowth of that.
Memories…
There is a litany of songs that speak of memories and their affect on the person, and how they are part of the flawed human condition. Even my mentioning this probably has brought some lyrics to your memory. And those lyrics have probably brought your own memories, possibly long thought forgotten back to the fore. And as those memories well up inside of us, so too do the emotions that are attached to them.
Some memories are enmeshed with positive, wonderful emotions, and others are clouded with debilitating darkness and pain.
Memories are bound up with our past, with the places we have been, with the interactions we have had with people (some close and meaningful to us, and others who were not - yet both left a mark on us), and with events we have experienced.
Memories are an imperfect window to our past - they only reflect what fragments of our life that our minds have recorded - they are not the coherent sum total of our existence. To rely on memories as a response to current and future events is unproductive at best, and at worst is self-destructive.
Mentally and spiritually healthy people cannot be those who weight current and future interactions by the weight of their memories. The Bible is very clear on this aspect.
In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul tells us that… “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
Here, Paul is not only showing the reader his own broken humanity, and how none of us can obtain perfection or full righteousness in this life, but he is also providing the reader with some vital wisdom.
People…humans…tend to hold onto the past be it good or bad. We hold on for dear life because we believe that our past defines us.
Some, like sports men and women tend to hold on to championship or personal accolades earned during their careers. So too do people who work their way up the ladder of whatever field of employment they participate in.
Other people hold on to memories of obtaining the relationships (or losing those same said relationships) - or the gaining and loss of particular physical things (cars, homes, gadgets etc).
What the Apostle Paul is exhorting us to do is to forget our pasts - do not let it be an anchor on our lives. He is wanting us to shed that weight in order to move into the fullness of our future.
It is also interesting that Paul mentions completing a race. The 2024 Paris Olympics were not that long ago, and for those who watched the athletics races - you never, ever saw a runner looking back the whole way - their eyes were focussed on the finish line. Those that did look back, and were worried about being passed - often got passed.
Even Lot’s wife was warned not to look back at all the things, relationships and wealth she and her family were leaving behind (Genesis 19).
In the Old testament the prophet Isaiah also spoke of such things when he said in Isaiah 43:18-19 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.”
“Do not remember the things of your past” - The statement and instruction is clear and to the point.
God is wanting to do a new thing in our lives, and HE cannot do so if we are burdened down with the things of the past.
God wants the best for us - Satan does not. So if we are continually recalling our sins and being confronted with condemnation - or we focus on the mistakes we have made where we have hurt people - then that is not of God, that is solely from the evil one.
So, what then are we to focus on when memories come flooding back, and our emotions become troubled?
Again we turn to the Apostle Paul who in Philippians 4:8 says “ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
When memories and the events/emotions they contain burst forth and threaten to overtake us - what then should we turn our mind to?
Paul tells us to focus on all that is good. and when you focus on that which is good a person will always find that God is at the heart of such things for HE is the ultimate source of goodness, of love, of things that are righteous.
Not only should we think about these things, but we should ‘meditate’ on these things.
Now Paul’s use of the term ‘meditate’ is not that same that modern people may consider to be meditation (which is often related to the pagan New Age meditation). Rather, the term means more like ruminate on - like cows re-chewing their cud.
It is interesting that depression and anxiety in people is often linked to their ruminating on negative events, memories and feelings. Here Paul is leading us towards the emotionally and spiritually healthy remembering of what is good - on a regular basis.
Now that we are turning our thoughts away from our past to that which is good, we can then extend the process towards the source of our joy (for happiness is an illusion - it is an emotion driven by the interaction of events, neural pathways and dopamine).
Isaiah 49:8-9 informs us that we… “Do not forget this! Keep it in mind! Remember this, you guilty ones. Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me.”
People will fail us - even those that we love and cherish. God will not.
If we continue to recall all that God has done for us in the past, then our joy will increase.
If we focus on the things of this world - then our joy will decrease.
Memories…
It comes down to a personal choice on how we engage with and react to memories. Do we let memories and the feeling that are interwoven with them continue to hold us down, or hinder our progress? Or, do we forget the former things and allow God to do a new and good work in us?
The choice is yours to make…and that choice is going to influence not only yourself, but also those around you - for you with either wither and die spiritually/emotionally, or you will blossom and grow spiritually and emotionally.
May the Holy Spirit guide you to the things of righteousness and the things of God. May you cry out to God for help in these times. May you feel the peace of Jesus Christ (which is beyond our understanding) as you venture out into a new future, leaving the weight and concerns of the past behind.