Useful Memory

Memory is an essential part of life because much of wisdom is learning from the past. Peter’s second letter is a treatise on remembering.  Memory can be a powerful ally in keeping us focused, or it can be a fearsome, overpowering foe that weighs us down with regret and shame.  Which role our memories play on the stage of our lives is dependent on both the memories we focus on as well as our attitudes towards our memories.

Every believer is to be born-again (John 3).  If we do not fully understand this basic truth then we will not receive the full riches of Christ.  To be born-again is not just a spiritual change; it is a whole transformation, body, mind, and soul.  It is not a latent, reactive change but is proactive and dynamic.  

The transformation referred to as “born-again” is describing a return to the intended relationship for man and God.  When we are born again, we are consciously marking a turning point in our lives, as in, from here on out everything is different.  Although we begin our new lives at conversion, we are still informed and entrenched by our previous lives.  Enter memory.

The lives we once lived before our conversions remain with us.  We carry the memories of our previous life with us wherever we go.  It is how we think about that life that determines whether we treat our memories as baggage or as grace.  If remembering our previous selves only arouses feelings of remorse or shame, then we are not set free from sin as we should be.  Christ’s work destroyed sin’s grip on our lives, even our memories.  

Instead of feeling guilt when we remember who we were before being born-again, we should view who we previously were as a testament to God’s grace.  When we think of how truly wretched and abased we were before we gave ourselves to the Lord, it should only spurn us to greater devotion.  Acknowledging the reality that only in and through Christ do we have any worth is the purpose of remembering.  Our memories should never haunt us but should act as a catalyst to greater and deeper dependence on Jesus.  

Additionally, memories of our previous lives serve significant purposes in evangelism.  The fact that every believer came from a place of unbelief to a redeemed state of belief means that our previous lives are assets and bridges that allow us to speak honestly about Christ to unbelievers.  We can meet unbelievers where they are because we were once there too.  Therefore, we should be so thankful, and recognize not only that God has saved us through the work of Jesus, but what He saved us from.  In conclusion, praise be to Yahweh for He has saved us from much and brought us to so much more!