Many people are haunted by their pasts and find it difficult to move forward. Some fear that their shortcomings will one day catch up to them. Others refuse to let go of the hurt and disappointments they have experienced over the years.

Let's face it. We have all done or experienced things of which we're not proud. If only those things could remain buried, everything would be all right, correct?

Not quite.

Anything buried can always be unearthed. You can try to bury the hurt you have experienced from a friend, co-worker or loved one, but what happens when something triggers your memory? Whatever triggered those thoughts will become the "shovel," so to speak, that is used to remind you of the past.

As a former therapist, I have learned that repressed negative emotions find ways to resurface, most commonly through outbursts of anger.

I've counseled many people who have struggled all of their lives, convinced that another race is responsible for their status in life. Some African Americans, for example, can't watch the movie Roots or Amistad without feeling a sense of anger toward Caucasians. There is no valid reason to hold on to this kind of emotion.

I am not suggesting that racial prejudice did not and does not exist. My point is that if you allow history to keep you angry, then you will remain trapped in the past. Consequently, that mental entrapment will be responsible for your failures in life.

Imagine if Jesus, Who is now at the right hand of God in heaven, had been angry with the people who crucified Him thousands of years ago. What if His attitude on the Cross had been, "Father, forgive those people who have done right by Me. As for the folks who are persecuting Me, they can all go to...." You know where!

Removing the Shackles
As Christians, the key to our freedom from the past is to do what the Word of God encourages: "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old" (Isaiah 43:18). In the next verse, the Lord says, "Behold, I will do a new thing...."

I wonder how many believers hold on to their pasts, thereby hindering God from doing new things in their lives. Rather than removing the shackles, they keep them on, having subconsciously found comfort in them.

They've become used to the hurt and pain and have accepted the lie that they are simply a part of life.

I don't like to blame the devil for the things for which people are themselves responsible. I will, however, point out that he loves it when Christians hold on to their pasts. In fact, I believe that he keeps accurate records of our mistakes and disappointments.

He'll use whatever he can to build a case against you and me to condemn us, thereby convincing us that we're not worthy to succeed in life—at least not in the things of God.

For example, Satan will use the memory of a spouse's past extra-marital affair to drive a wedge between the husband and his wife, leading them toward divorce. The devil will provoke a man's anger toward his father who may have abandoned him when he was a child. He'll use guilt and shame to emotionally injure a young woman who has had an abortion.

I can list many scenarios, but the bottom line is that the Bible refers to Satan as our great "Accuser" who continually points out our shortcomings to the Lord (Revelation 12:10). Allow him to condemn you and he has you right where he wants you—shackled to your past and under his control.

Liberty in Christ
If you or someone you know is in bondage to the past, the first step to freedom and wholeness is to make a quality decision to live free. You must renew your mind to the fact that it's up to you to break free from whatever has you bound in the mental, emotional, social, financial and physical realms.

Decide right now that you will change the way you think so that you can change the way that you live.

One of the greatest changes you can make is in the area of self-perception. If you are convinced that you deserve to experience hard times because of your past decisions, then that's exactly what you'll experience. According to Proverbs 23:7, you are who you think you are.

I cannot overstress the fact that positive self-perception is a key to living free. Perhaps you're struggling with your opinion of yourself. It helps to view yourself through the eyes of God rather than through your own eyes.

Ultimately, how He perceives you is what matters anyway.

He sees you as His blessed child who is a part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9). As far as He is concerned, you are special!

Often, God's opinion of you may be overshadowed by your acceptance of what others say about you. For years you may have been told that you're "good-for-nothing." People may have ridiculed you and spoken all sorts of things over your life. They became the "prophets" of your life, and you believed every word they said.

The entire second chapter of 2 Peter deals with these kinds of people. It refers to them as "false prophets and teachers" (v. 1). Second Peter 2:19 says,

While they [false prophets] promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

My advice to you is to that you forget what others have spoken against you. What you speak over your life is important; you are the prophet of your own life.

Keep in mind that people will prophesy out of their souls—the place where their minds, wills and emotions lie—thinking that they're doing you a favor. They don't realize that they are false prophets and agents of corruption.

Therefore, don't live based on what others say about you. They may say that they're only trying to help you to understand the reality of life. However, the reality is that because of Jesus, you don't have to live in bondage another day!

Complete freedom from the past is available to you through Jesus Christ. Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

The Amplified Bible says, "In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off]."

To fully understand your freedom in Jesus, read what 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: "...if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

In other words, through Jesus, the "old" you has been replaced by the "new" and improved you. You are a born-again believer who has every right to experience the goodness of God in every area of your life.

It doesn't matter what you did in the past or what mistakes you may have made since becoming born again. God is concerned with your decision to live in Him now, which is in accordance with His will. In Him you can live free; outside of Him you can forget it—you're doomed to fail.

I want to zero in on what it really means to be free "in Christ." God allowed Jesus to come to the earth to sacrifice His life so that you and I could experience complete freedom.

The Bible says that Jesus is "the Christ." "Christ" is not His last name. Instead, it speaks of Who He is. The word Christ is the English translation of the Greek word Cristos, meaning "the Anointed One."

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus stood in the temple in Jerusalem and read a verse in Isaiah 61 concerning the Messiah, or the Anointed One, whom the Jews were expecting to liberate them. He specifically read the first verse,

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.
(Isa. 61:1)

After reading this text, Jesus made a bold statement that shocked the religious leaders of His day. He said, "...This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21). In simple terms, "I am the fulfillment of this scripture." Jesus found Himself in the Word of God and let the world know that He is the One Whom God anointed to bring liberty to mankind. For Jesus to be anointed, He must have been anointed with God's anointing.

According to Isaiah 10:27, the anointing has burden-removing, yoke-destroying effects. A burden or yoke is anything that is designed to keep you from experiencing the goodness of God in your life. For example, poverty is a burden. Sin is a burden. And let's not forget that the negative aspects of your life are burdens and yokes designed to destroy you.

Knowing that you have a right to live free in Jesus, the Anointed One, is not enough. You must make a quality decision to never again allow your past to enslave you (Gal. 5:13).

Start by studying and applying the Word of God to your life. James referred to the Word as "the perfect law of liberty." Live by God's perfect Word so that you can perfect your relationship with Him and enjoy your freedom.

Never forget that you can do what the Word says you can do, you can have what it says you can have and you are who it says you are. That settles it. Live free!

Creflo Dollar Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.