The importance of looking back …

If you read the memes laden with pop psychology and even pop theology, you’ll routinely be instructed to “never look back,” to always keep your past in the past.

That would be very foolish — for some, even destructive.

If you don’t look back for context, for understanding, and to learn, you’ll feel entitled in your present, thoroughly lacking in gratitude.

And so the apostle Paul consistently takes us back to who we were, so we can properly understand the grace, mercy, and love of God that it has taken to make us who we are now. Read closely …

“Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone. Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But — When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life,” Titus 3:1-7.

Taking a moment every day to briefly look back at who you were as a lost sinner, and then to look afresh at what God has done to save you, is a great way to humble yourself and refresh your gratitude for the great things God has done for you, and the remarkable hope we have in Him for an amazing, everlasting life.

You cannot rightly appreciate what God has done, what He is doing still, and what He will yet do without looking back to see the mess of sin He has ransomed us from. Having a proper response to God for both who He is and what He has done depends on our looking back to see the morass of sin from which He’s plucked us from. When was the last time you looked back at who you once were, and contrasted that with what God is doing in your life today?

Scotty