By Shawn Blackmon
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to forget how painful something really was?
A toxic relationship. A destructive habit. A season of depression. An addiction. A place where you cried yourself to sleep and begged God for a way out.
Then somehow, after enough time passes, we begin to romanticize what nearly destroyed us.
We forget the tears. We forget the sleepless nights. We forget the prayers we prayed asking God to rescue us. And before we know it, we’re tempted to go back to the very thing God delivered us from.
The Apostle Paul understood this struggle. Writing to the believers in Galatia, he warned them:
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1
Notice what Paul says. Christ did not set us free so we could eventually return to bondage. He set us free so we could stay free.
Yet if we’re honest, sometimes the hardest part of freedom isn’t getting out. It’s staying out.
We know God has changed us. We know He’s healed us. We know He’s brought us through things that should have broken us. But there are moments when the familiar begins calling our name again. The old mindset. The old habits. The old relationships. The old version of ourselves.
Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
In other words, you cannot move forward while constantly staring behind you. You cannot embrace what God is doing next while clinging to what He already called you out of.
The enemy knows he cannot destroy God’s purpose for your life. So instead, he tries to convince you to revisit what God has already healed.
Don’t forget where God found you.
Don’t forget the prayers you prayed when your heart was broken.
Don’t forget the miracle of God’s grace that carried you through.
You didn’t survive all of that just to go backward now.
God has brought you too far. He has healed too much. He has restored too much. He has invested too much into your future.
The road ahead may not always be easy, but it is better than the life God rescued you from.
Keep moving forward.
Keep growing.
Keep praying.
Keep trusting.
Keep believing.
And whatever you do, don’t go back.
Let’s Pray
Father, thank You for every place You have delivered me from. When I am tempted to look backward, remind me of Your faithfulness. Give me the courage to release old habits, old hurts, and old ways of thinking. Help me keep my eyes fixed on You and the future You have prepared for me. Strengthen me to walk forward in freedom, confidence, and faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Walk in grace. Stand in truth. Live blessed.
