The breeze can be felt and the end of the summer is right around the corner. She sits in front of me pouring out her words of wisdom. As we talk about my growth this summer we begin to dive into one of the biggest areas I still need to work on… Interaction with my peers.

“I’m never going to be like my peers. I have a different view of things. My life will never be happy-go-lucky” I say.

She looks at me with her wise and gentle eyes, and says a powerful statement,

“Don’t say that. God can redeem you.”

I see an epidemic in this culture and it breaks my heart. 

Girls that have a broken past don’t find true healing. Instead, they mask the pain and heartache with a happy face and a stature that tells the world, “I’m just fine.”

They hide themselves behind excuses like, “Nothing’s going to change” and “My past has made me this way“.

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Those thoughts used to captivate me.

I would walk around with a feeling of inferiority, making excuses for my pain. I was always hiding behind a past that I didn’t want anyone to see.

Occasionally, if someone looked at my actions close enough, they could see the results of my unresolved issues.

The results could be seen through the awkwardness I felt around my peers. They could be seen through my constant need to be in total control of my life.

For so long, I hid behind my “christian” facade.

I would tell others  God had redeemed my past, yet I wouldn’t let him redeem my future.

I would make excuses for thoughts and actions that were associated with my past. I would say that those actions were okay because they had made me who I am.

I was wrong. My past didn’t make me. God did.

I am so thankful God sent me that wonderful woman this summer. I will never forget those wise words she spoke that day when she called me out for the lies I had been telling myself for so long.

I know now that when Jesus took on pain for our healing, He didn’t do it so that we could be healed partially.

I believe that when Jesus was tortured to death on that cross for you and for me, He sacrificed Himself so that we could be healed completely.

Beautiful girl, you are made in his image, You are precious in his eyes. I know what it’s like to hide behind excuses and man-made lies. SO STOP! God can free you from the bondage of your past. Christ came to set you free, so let Him. Remember that your past can be redeemed but your future can too.

When God set’s you free, your past no longer effects you.