Q:
I listened to you on television when I was a teenager because my parents made me, but I didn't want anything to do with God. Now, 30 years later, I realize I've paid a terrible price for this. I should've stopped to see where I was headed. I wish I could live my life over again, but you can't go back.
A:
One of life’s hardest lessons is that we can’t change the past. When we’re young, we seldom think about the future–but once we start down a wrong path, we have to live with the consequences. The Bible warns that “the way of the unfaithful is hard” (Proverbs 13:15).
No, you can’t change the past–but listen: With God’s help, you can change the future. And God wants your future to be different because He loves you and wants what’s best for you. In fact, He loves you so much that He sacrificed His own Son so you could be forgiven. He also wants to put you on a new path–the path of following Christ. He doesn’t want you to spend the rest of your life mired in hopelessness and regret.
This is why I urge you to take your past and put it at the foot of the cross. Give it to Jesus–all of it–and ask Him to cleanse and forgive you. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Then ask God to begin changing you from within by His Spirit. God’s promise is for you: “I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow” (Jeremiah 31:13). Open your life to Christ today.