H. Norman Wright - Making Peace with Your Past

The Most Important Journey You May Ever Take

I invite you to come with me on a journeya journey through life. As we travel we will look at where we have come from, where we are today, and where we will be going. Together we will consider the importance of the past and recognize the role it plays in our present.

I am particularly concerned with helping you look back upon your past because of what it may be able to tell you about yourself. In your passage through life, you want to be fully in charge of the route, the events, and the destination; in order to do so, you need a clear view of where you have been. The amount of control you have depends on whether you live your life as your own person or allow another person within you to direct your energies and thoughts. This other person who may be trying to control you is what counselors and psychologists call your inner child of the past. This inner child is the part of your psyche that retains the burdens and problems of your early days.

As you get better acquainted with your inner child, you will understand yourself in a new and different way. You will have better insight into questions like:

How did I get to be who I am today?

Who is responsible for what I am?

How can I change the parts of me I dont like?

The ideas that follow are the result of twenty years of searching Scripture, counseling hundreds of individuals and couples, and spending hours in research in order to teach graduate students. Other concepts have come from my own thinking, from theologians and pastors and from the prompting and guiding of the Holy Spirit, who has helped me sift through and draw these thoughts together. Indeed, I am convinced that if you know the presence of Jesus Christ in your life, the Holy Spirit is your most powerful resource in making peace with your past. Scripture tells the Christian that he is now an adopted member of Gods family. Galatians 4:45 (NASB) tells us that God sent his Son to redeem us from sin,... that we might receive the adoption as sons.

First John 3:1 makes it even more personal: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God....

The family into which we have been adopted is quite different from families here on earth, which often have unstable or inconsistent parents. In our Father, God, we have absolute stability and security. We have a parent who is consistently wise and good, and our position as his children is assured.

A. W. Tozer so beautifully described the type of love God has for us when he said, It is a strange and beautiful eccentricity of the free God that He has allowed His heart to be

As you know, when you invited Jesus Christ into your life, the Holy Spirit became a part of your life as well. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide, who gives us a greater understanding of how we are related to God. Paul said in Romans 8:15,... But ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. What part does the Holy Spirit play in our adoption? The Spirit makes and keeps us conscious of the fact that we are Gods children. The words Abba, Father , literally mean that we may call him Daddy. The Holy Spirit moves us to look to God as our Father and trust him as a secure child trusts a dependable parent. This means leaving former childhood patterns that are interfering with the way in which we are currently experiencing life.

With the presence of Jesus Christ in your life today, you can use the ideas that follow to disconnect negative responses that are based in your past. You can become a free person, one who is enjoying life, without heavy anchors from your childhood weighing you down. In spite of events or influences that may have adversely affected you as you grew up, you can still gain control over the inner child who wants to take over. You can still make peace with your past by being reparented by your heavenly Father!

Ask the Holy Spirit to allow the thoughts of these pages to stay in your mind and help you change undesirable beliefs, attitudes, and responses. Begin to practice the things you learn here. Pray for reminders of what you have discovered. Reread again and again the pages that apply to you. Copy significant statements to carry with you. Memorize, meditate on, and visualize the words of God as a guiding force in your life. Thank God that we, as his children, can be different.

One more point: as this book takes you on what could be the most important journey you will ever make, you may uncover memories, thoughts, and feelings that have been buried for years. You may sense a strong need to talk to someone especially equipped to help you deal with what you are discovering. Do not hesitate to contact your pastor or a professional Christian counselor in whom you have confidence.

Wherever our journey through life takes us, we can rejoice in the assurance we are not crippled, powerless people. We are new creations who have been adopted into Gods family. I do not believe I can overemphasize the importance of the good news that we were foreordained... to be adopted... as His own children through Jesus Christ... (Eph. 1:5 AMP). As you fully grasp this concept and integrate its truths into your life, God will give you the insight, strength, and stability you need not only to live in this world, but also to experience life to the fullest, in spite of the stresses and negative influences around you. Too many Christians live as though they were orphans. Thank God each day that you are his and ask him how he wants you to livetoday.