There is a saying, “Don’t let the past haunt you.” I have definitely allowed this to happen in my own life. Past hurts, past choices, past relationships. Past circumstances and past seasons. While it’s good to learn from our past, we should not dwell on it and allow it to take over our present life.

I recently started seeing a new therapist and after one session she already had me thinking about how my past is affecting my present. She began putting names to events I have gone through and helped me realize that several of them were traumatic. I am still holding onto them in one way or another because I haven’t allowed myself to forgive my past.

In an interview entitled How to Forgive and Let Go of Your Past, Joyce Meyer said: “If people can understand that as long as they don’t forgive, they are poisoning themselves. Hating somebody that’s hurt you is like taking poison hoping they’ll die.”

Joyce acknowledged that a lot people want to forgive, but don’t know how to do it. She says we can decide to forgive, but not actually walk it out in our lives by taking the necessary action. We have to recognize this and acknowledge that when we do this, we are still taking in that poison.

There are several actions we can put into practice in different areas of our lives that can help us deal with unresolved bitterness, forgive our past and ultimately overcome evil with good:

1) Thought Action: Change how you think about others and your past experiences by praying for blessings for those that have hurt you. This can be a very difficult thing to do, but also transformational. Instead of thinking negatively about your hurts and your past, ask God to bless others through it.

2) Talking Action: Stop talking unkindly about people who have hurt you. Words are powerful. When we speak unkindly about someone we are ultimately allowing them to
continue to hurt us, sometimes years after the incident occurred.

3) Feeling Action: Ask God to help change how you feel. Sometimes we can change how we think and talk, but our feelings don’t follow suit. We might still feel angry, sad, or
fearful about a person or experience. It will take time for these feelings to subside, but with patience and help, you can overcome the feelings of hurt.

4) Walking Action: Do things God prompts you to do, even if you don’t want to or don’t feel like it. This is where you put yourself out there. You’ve worked on your thoughts, your words and your feelings and now it’s time to put them into practice.

I have many things to work through, but just like we can forgive others and forgive ourselves, we can also forgive our past. We don’t have to let it hold us captive. We can forgive our past and be set free.