History ignored will be repeated
If we chose to ignore the shameful, uncomfortable, ignorant, or criminal past, we place ourselves in a vacuum of future failure. We need to acknowledge the past, ask the Lord, how we got ourselves into such a place, then ask Him to help us repent, change our belief systems and grow from the past mistakes.
On the other hand, reminding everyone of their mistakes over and over is just as dangerous. It brings shame and anger alive and causes rifts and bitterness to flourish, where forgiveness and peace need to grow.
We choose both how we deal with our pasts and how we move on into our futures. Will we learn what caused the problems in the first place? Will we ask the hard questions that need godly answers? Will we repent for our part in the problems, asking God and the offended to forgive us?
If we can face the shame and ask God to lead us out of the past failures, into a greater place of communication, caring for each other, getting rid of the selfishness of the “Me” generations, then perhaps our families, cities, and nations will start to mature and grow up into caring individuals looking out for each other.
This horrible blame game and finger-pointing needs to stop! It is so counter-productive to human growth and maturity. It is childish and very selfish. Each person’s view of the past is different and only when we forgive each other, and chose to leave the past in the past, can we move on.
Father God, help our families, our cities, and nations to deal with the past with forgiveness, kindness and allow us to grow to care about each other in a new way. Help us to look to You for guidance. Heal our nations we pray in Jesus’ Name.
2Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Daniel 9:19
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
Mar 11:25,26 TPT
“And whenever you stand praying, if you find that you carry something in your heart against another person, release him and forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also release you and forgive you of your faults. But if you will not release forgiveness, don’t expect your Father in heaven to release you from your misdeeds.”
Luke 6:37 TPT
Jesus said, “Forsake the habit of criticizing and judging others, and then you will not be criticized and judged in return. Don’t look at others and pronounce them guilty, and you will not experience guilty accusations yourself. Forgive over and over and you will be forgiven over and over. ”
Luke 17:1-4 TPT
One day Jesus taught his disciples this: “Betrayals are inevitable, but great devastation will come to the one guilty of betraying others. It would be better for him to have a heavy boulder tied around his neck and be hurled into the deepest sea than to face the punishment of betraying one of my dear ones! So be alert to your brother’s condition, and if you see him going the wrong direction, cry out and correct him. If there is true repentance on his part, forgive him. No matter how many times in one day your brother sins against you and says, ‘I’m sorry; I am changing; forgive me,’ you need to forgive him each and every time.”
Matthew 5:43-48
“Your ancestors have also been taught ‘Love your neighbors and hate the one who hates you.’ However, I say to you, love your enemy, bless the one who curses you, do something wonderful for the one who hates you, and respond to the very ones who persecute you by praying for them. For that will reveal your identity as children of your heavenly Father. He is kind to all by bringing the sunrise to warm and rainfall to refresh whether a person does what is good or evil. What reward do you deserve if you only love the loveable? Don’t even the tax collectors do that? How are you any different from others if you limit your kindness only to your friends? Don’t even the ungodly do that? Since you are children of a perfect Father in heaven, you are to be perfect like him.”