Acts 22:17-21

Acts 22:17-21
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Sometimes we convince ourselves that our past determines our future.  We think that previous choices have chartered a set course for the future that is inflexible, and we are forever labeled by our history.  I think the devil uses this to his advantage, keeping our heads buried and focused on our mistakes that we are unable to look to the hills, from whence our help comes.
  The beautiful news of a gracious Savior means that once was is no longer -- the sin that lurks in the past no longer has power over us.  In Christ, we take on his perfection before God.  He has atoned for our sins, and we are commissioned into a new identity with a new role -- we who were lost are now charged to tell the story of amazing grace to others.
  And so when those painful memories rear their heads, remember that you have been found in Christ, and your worth in his eyes does not depend on your past, but rather on your identity as a Child of God, rescued by the blood of the lamb and forever free in the abundance of God.