Press Delete on Your Past: The Courage to Accept Who You Are

Sermon outline

A man cannot enter his future while he carries his past, so let it go, forgive, accept who God made you and boldly identify with Christ, because God has a great future for you.

1. Your past is finished

   When you are purified of the past, you have a picture of the future. The only person who can stop you entering your future is you, because in Christ you are the righteousness of God and your past is history. Dwelling on past failures drains your confidence and lets condemnation sink you, so press the delete button on the affairs, the lies and the abuse, and refuse to let anyone keep dragging your past back up.

   Illustration: In an argument a wife may say 'I know you, you remember'. A computer has a delete button: use it on your past tonight.

   “You don't have a past. You have a future.”

   • 2 Corinthians 5:21

2. It takes courage to accept yourself

   Some men have issues with their age, their hair, their spectacles, their family background or their race, even in the church. God made you fearfully and wonderfully, there is only one of you, and you are not a reject. Coming out of an apartheid background, he says he has no more issues about who he is and respects every man as he accepts himself.

   Illustration: He no longer cares about wearing spectacles; he sometimes gets into the shower with them on and only notices when they mist up.

   “There's only one of you. God made you. You're not a reject.”

   • Psalm 139:14

3. The absence of a father leaves a vacuum: find a mentor and forgive

   Every man needs a mentor, and even at his age he surrounds himself with wiser people so that he can go higher. Your father's sins can be retained in your life through unforgiveness, even after your parents have died. Forgive them privately, let the baggage go and travel lighter into your future, because the people you resent are not worth staying a prisoner for.

   Illustration: A man of God compared carrying the past to towing an old caravan with a toilet in it everywhere you go, stench and all: unhitch your trailer. About two weeks earlier, God told him in prayer to phone five people who had badly wronged him; he told each one he loved, forgave and released them, which was hard on the flesh.

   “Forgiveness releases you.”

4. Don't be ashamed to identify with Christ

   Men identify themselves by their money, clothes, house and job, but accepting who you are becomes your real strength and frees you to witness. Whoever confesses Christ before men, He will confess before the Father, so identification with Jesus on earth is mandatory. Do not be a spiritual coward: it takes a man to stand up and say he is a Christian.

   Illustration: That morning he spoke to an older, highly educated Hindu man, a former bank manager, who said he was researching to find the way. He told him boldly that Christ is the way, that he himself had been a Hindu and that his wife was once a Muslim, and that they both serve Christ now.

   “If you're ashamed of Christ, he'll be ashamed of you.”

   • Matthew 10:32

5. Don't walk in condemnation, and don't condemn your children

   Everyone has issues, but God still loves you and is still working with you. If there are problems with your children, do not condemn them or measure them; give them a break and pray, because there is nothing God cannot handle.

   “He's bigger than your need.”

6. Pray about the little things and the big things

   He and his wife used to argue because she prayed about everything, even a cabbage or a loaf of bread, while he said God had given us power to handle the small things. Years later he changed his theology: God is interested in both. If you do not trust God for little things, you will not trust Him for big things.

   Illustration: Years ago their little dog was very sick and the vet could not help. The Lord told him to anoint the dog with oil and pray; he could not find a verse for it, but did it, and the next day the dog was eating and healthy.

   “If you don't trust God for little things, how would you trust Him for big things?”

7. You have a great future: life is for living

   Your journey is not finished until the day you are buried. Enjoy life, see the potential in you and dust yourself off when you fall, because the great men of God were all flawed and only Christ is good. Become the man God intended so you earn respect and the right to lead at home, and make a covenant with your eyes as Job did.

   Illustration: Pastor Lamb, at 77, still rides a motorbike and swims, and a 70-year-old pastor told him he had just gone down a 150-metre foefie slide. His new answer when Pastor Wesley asks how his day was: 'Terrific.'

   “Believe in yourself. Believe in your manhood. Believe in the callings God gave you.”

   • Psalm 91:16
   • Job 31:1