“For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” (1st Cor. 11:31)
The one who has been crucified with Christ is dead, we are not to gloss over our past, not to reminisce about it, either in a positive or negative way, when it enters into our mind, we are to accept it as it was, realize that person is dead, and then do what all do with the dead, bury it.
The dog that returns to his own vomit only does so because he is still hungry, the pig to the mud because it is his nature to do so.
When we are born-again, we are given a new nature, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us, but our old nature, that sinful part of us that still looks at the past as relevant to our future is not yet fully buried, he may be in the grave, but the dirt does not yet cover him fully.
“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:” (Acts 2:14)
On the day of Pentecost, who went out boldly and spoke to the thousands, the Holy Spirit or Peter and those who were in that room when the tongues of fire lighted upon them? Who writes these letters to you? Who is it that speaks to the lost and wicked when you meet them and begin to expound the truths of the Scriptures to them, telling them of their need for the Savior?
Very few people can speak the language of the hardened criminal who will spend most of their lives behind bars save for those who were once as they were. Few men can console a woman who has been lied to, cheated on, beaten and abused by the one who once claimed he would honor and cherish her forever.
“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:” (Romans 12:4)
Each member of the body of Christ has been allowed to, in fact, may have been placed purposely in a particular situation before they fell on their knees at the cross for a specific reason, so that they could comfort those later in life that He would place before them, for they have been there.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8)
Some may disagree with that statement for they do not see the kindness and love of Christ in it, but contemplate this, would you feel no anxiety whatsoever walking into a biker bar with the sole intent of reaching out to one inside of that place for the glory of God? Can you tell a woman who is experiencing the heartbreaking pain of the truth, that her abortion killed her child of the love that still calls to her?
The Almighty is wise beyond our capability to understand, Peter’s roughness as well as John’s tenderness were all used for His glory.
“For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” (Acts 9:16)
Some of us who have been crucified with Christ try to hold onto that past, some do all they can to forget it, for some it can be an occasional enticement, for others an abhorrence, in either case it will raise its ugly head, the past will call to us from the grave.
If Satan cannot pull you into his traps with lust, he will attempt to do so with loss, and that word “loss” means this truth, something in our past that is gone.
Bury it my friends.
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14)
The Lord will use, if it can be called this, our character traits, who we were is not who we are in Christ today, praise God for this, but what we experienced is what He will use to reach those He is calling to Himself through you by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The next time He places someone in front of you that He wants to speak to, consider this, you may be speaking to someone who was once just like you were.