It Doesn’t Matter – It’s In the Past!

There’s a scene in The Lion King I really like when the old wise monkey hits Simba in the head with his cane. Simba demands, “Hey, why’d you do that?” The monkey replies, “It doesn’t matter, it’s in the past.” There’s a lot of wisdom in that!

I wouldn’t advise you to simply ignore the issues of your past, especially if you can see the effects of them in the present. But if God has forgiven you of something, let it go. He doesn’t hold it against you – why should you?

I know this measure of grace seems almost scandalous. How could God forgive us in such a way that we would be free to simply move on? But it’s the truth of Scripture. It’s the truth David had to learn after the death of he and Bathsheba’s son. It’s the truth Peter had to learn after denying Jesus at the cross. And it’s the truth we have to learn after we’ve honestly confessed and forsake our sin before a forgiving God.

A friend of mine in college put this issue in perspective for me one day. I was arguing that the idea of “forgiving yourself” isn’t really found in Scripture. True, it isn’t stated as such. But my friend asked this question… If God is willing to forgive your sin on the basis of His Son’s death, but you won’t forgive yourself, aren’t you claiming that you get to have an even higher standard of forgiveness than God?

That may not hit you the way it hit me that day, but you can still acknowledge your total forgiveness if you’ve trusted in Jesus as your Savior.

It doesn’t matter – it’s in the past!