The past is behind you!

Your past is behind you!--sometimes literally--like what you ate last week is now behind you ON your behind! ha ha ha ha...no but really...

I was reading my friend Rene's blog the other day and she had some old pictures up of herself from the "good old days." (she was ADORABLE!) It got me to thinking about the "past." My past.
For so long I have tried to block out a lot of it from my mind.
I mean, as Christians, aren't we always reminded to "forget your past" and told that we are "a new creation." I remember a popular saying when I was growing up in the church-world. It was "If the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future!" I love it!
Of course, what they are talking about is your past SIN....and yes...we certainly do NOT need to dwell on that because indeed, if we have accepted Jesus into our hearts, we ARE a new creation.
But what I'm talking about on this post is how sometimes taking a minute to reflect on your past can be a positive thing.
Let's think about "before" pictures for a second. The other day a friend of mine said "I know I should take before pictures but I just can't stand the thought of seeing myself in a bikini right now." True, I understand her feelings. BUT....if it weren't for my "before" pictures that I took a year ago, I honestly would NOT be able to see the HUGE difference I have made in my body. Sure, I would know I'd shrunk since my clothes fit differently and all...but the changes in muscle tone and shape would be hard to see if I didn't have those pictures.
But going even further back...to my WAY-back past, I can REALLY appreciate where I am today. Probably from the age of about 7 or 8, I realized I was "the chubby girl." I was the girl who had to pay special attention to the cut of clothes so that I could appear thinner. I was the first of all my friends to develop my "lady lumps" and get big, nasty, irradescent stretch marks to accompany them. From my chest, to my hips, to my thighs....I was "marked." I wasn't ever grossely obese...but big enough that I felt like an eye-sore. I had NO self-confidence. I felt insecure and inferior to everyone. If someone pretty or popular wanted to be my friend, I thought I had just won the lottery! Sad, huh?
Thankfully, many years have passed since that time and now I am a completely different woman full of confidence and Joy! It is 100% God who changed me and I give HIM all the glory. And because of the changes that He has been making in me over the last 5 or so years, I can now look back at my past and really appreciate my current place in life. No, I'm not perfect. I certainly haven't "achieved" (like my title scripture up there) but I am SO PROUD of the woman that I am becoming. Christ IN me--has made me this person that people are drawn to, that people compliment and look up to! The favor of God is following me everywhere I go and there's hardly a day that goes by that I don't get to minister to SOMEone! I am doing things now that I would have been TERRIFIED at even the THOUGHT of a few years back! It gets me totally stoked inside because I can just imagine how God is going to use me in the FUTURE! Woooooohooooo!
Anyway, I think I got a little side-tracked here...but what I was wanting to say in this post is that sometimes it's okay to spend a moment reflecting on your past. Who you were, why you were that way and HOW YOU'VE CHANGED!
This blog's focus has always been on fitness and health...but let me encourage you...if you are reading this right now and you DON'T relate to what I've said in this post, PLEASE let me introduce you to the life-changing, life-giving gift of JESUS! If you read this and you identify more with the OLD me than the NEW me...I have GOOD NEWS for you! The same gift that I have been given...the same changes that I have undergone...are YOURS for the taking!
I look forward to all the comments I will receive on this post because it was inspired by God Himself!
Love you all!