Making Peace with the Past
Adapted from a Sermon preached July 13th, 2026 at Morgan County Correctional Facility, Wartburg, TN
How many times have you heard someone say, “I have no regrets in life”? Chances are you’ve met very few people for whom that’s actually true.
Most of us carry something from yesterday. We replay the moment everything went wrong. We revisit words we wish we could take back. Some of us struggle to forgive what others have done to us, while others spend their lives longing for the “good old days.”
The past has a remarkable way of demanding our attention.
But making peace with the past doesn’t mean pretending it never happened. It doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for our choices. It means yesterday no longer gets to determine who you’re becoming.
You may not be able to change what’s behind you, but by the grace of God, it does not have to own you. Through Jesus Christ, your story is not finished.
A New Creation
The Apostle Paul writes:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
If you belong to Christ, this is not wishful thinking. It is reality. God has forgiven your sins. He has removed them as far as the east is from the west. He remembers them against you no more. That is the greatest news anyone could ever receive.
At the same time, forgiveness does not always erase earthly consequences. Some decisions leave scars. Relationships may need rebuilding. Trust may take time to restore. Some doors may never reopen.
Yet consequences are not the same as condemnation.
I’ve experienced my own share of regrets. I’ve done things I’m deeply ashamed of. I know what it feels like to carry a burden that seems impossible to set down. Through years of prison ministry, I’ve also met many men who know that feeling all too well.
One truth continues to encourage me: the bars around your body do not have to become bars around your soul.
Learning from Paul
Paul understood this better than most. Many of his New Testament letters were written from prison, yet he refused to become a prisoner of his past.
He wrote:
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
Paul wasn’t suggesting that we erase our memories or ignore our mistakes. Rather, he refused to let his past define his future. He learned from yesterday without living in it.
That is a lesson every believer needs.
Your Past Is a Teacher, Not a Warden
Too often we treat our failures like life sentences.
God intends them to become classrooms.
If you’ve learned from your mistakes, they were not wasted. Your past can instruct you without imprisoning you.
You are not required to remain the person you were yesterday. Every day is another opportunity to become the man or woman God is shaping you to be.
For many people, the deepest pain isn’t simply about what happened. It’s about what was lost.
Perhaps you lost trust.
Perhaps you lost your family.
Perhaps you lost opportunities.
Perhaps you lost your peace.
Perhaps you lost the version of yourself you once respected.
Healing begins with honesty before God. Tell Him exactly what you’ve lost. He already knows, but He invites you to bring your pain to Him because He cares for you.
Stop Driving by the Rearview Mirror
Imagine trying to drive while staring only into your rearview mirror. You wouldn’t get very far before crashing.
Yet many people attempt to live exactly that way. They constantly replay failures, regrets, old wounds, or even past successes, while missing the future God is calling them toward.
King Solomon understood this temptation. After a lifetime filled with extraordinary wisdom as well as painful compromise, he wrote:
“Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.” (Ecclesiastes 7:10)
Throughout Ecclesiastes, Solomon reminds us that life apart from God is like vapor—it slips through our fingers. We cannot relive yesterday or rewrite it. Wisdom is found not by longing for the past but by walking faithfully with God today.
Two Kinds of Sorrow
Paul describes two very different responses to regret:
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10)
Worldly sorrow becomes a chain. It continually whispers that you’re worthless, beyond hope, and incapable of change.
Godly sorrow becomes a key. It acknowledges sin, turns toward Christ, receives forgiveness, and produces lasting freedom.
One leaves you trapped.
The other leads you home.
The Great Exchange
Jesus did not come for people who believed they had everything together.
He came for sinners.
He came for broken people.
He came for prisoners
He died between two criminals, demonstrating that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace.
Today He offers every one of us a remarkable exchange.
He invites us to give Him our shame.
Our guilt.
Our failures.
Our chains.
In return, He offers His righteousness, His forgiveness, His life, and a future that no circumstance can take away.
Keep Pressing Forward
Accept Christ’s forgiveness.
Stop trying to carry what Jesus already carried to the cross.
Stop living like the old person you used to be.
Walk as a son or daughter of God.
Keep pressing toward the prize.
Ultimately, the prize is not a better reputation, a second chance, or even freedom from difficult circumstances.
The prize is Jesus Himself.
Whatever your past may hold, it does not have to become your identity. In Christ, your past is forgiven, your present has purpose, and your future still belongs to God.
Today, give your past to Christ and begin walking toward the future He has prepared for you.
Keep It Real,
James
