Don't Go Back...

When God brings you out, don't go back in!

As a Christian, I sometimes find myself remembering my old sins and having those old feelings come back. Honestly, it’s hard to forget what God brought me from! And I would be lying if I said I hadn’t sinned the same sin repeatedly. I go through it, repent, and come back stronger. It seems to be an endless cycle. But once you are delivered from whatever sin—you are Delivered! That is why Jesus died on the cross for us and rose again. His sacrifice made you free…so don’t go back to those chains! Let’s study three reasons why you shouldn’t go back to your old sins...

You’ll Get Stuck!

(Genesis 19)

Here, we see the story of Lot’s wife. After God begins His punishment on Sodom and Gomorrah, He saves only Lot, his wife, and their two daughters. And He gives them one single warning, to “not look back…” (v. 17). But when Lot’s wife is escaping, she does look back and gets turned to stone (v. 19). She gets stuck. And that happens whenever we go back to sin. We tend to get stuck in that cycle, and that hurts not only us, but our relationship with God. But God is so great in his love and mercy, that he can forgive and redeem as many times as we need. So don’t look back or go back…because you’ll always get that feeling of being stuck.

The Enemy is There!

(Matthew 4:1-11; James 4:7)

            In Matthew, we get to Jesus’ battle with temptation in the wilderness. Two times He denies flesh and spiritual blindness (v.3-7). On the third temptation, He tells Satan to “get behind him…” (v.10). After he says this, Satan has no choice but to leave Him. When you put something behind you, you are literally turning your back on it…which means it has nothing to do with you anymore! And for my girls: just like the back of our hair is none of our business, neither is our old sin! In James, we are instructed to resist the devil, and he will flee from us. When we resist olds sins and regrets, the enemy must leave us alone!

You’ll Stay the Same!

(1 Samuel 15:11; Acts 9: 1-9; 13:9; Ephesians 3:22-24; Philippians 3:5)

We all know Paul, an avid missionary for Jesus Christ. But he was formerly known as “Saul”—a persecutor of new Christians after the Resurrection. “Saul” identifies himself as a full-fledged Jewish person (Philippians 3:5) from the tribe of Benjamin. And there’s another Saul from the tribe of Benjamin…Israel’s first king, Saul (1 Samuel 15:11). Even though he saw some victories as king, Saul’s ultimate downfall was disobedience to God and a need to turn back to what he was delievered from. Saul didn’t go forward in God’s blessings, but he stayed in his past sins and paid the ultimate price. Unlike Saul, Paul was transformed for the better. He devoted his life to not only following God, but teaching and leading others to do the same (like a King was supposed to do; see Deuteronomy 17:14-20). When we go back to old sins, we don’t change for the better, as we should. We have to let God transform us into the new person, and leave the old behind (Ephesians 3:22-24).

God has brought me from some terrible things. And when I feel the old things creeping up, I go to the Word and remind myself that looking back will only make things worse. So, keep looking forward to what new things God has for you…

 Because what’s behind you has nothing to do with you.

-Sherry