There's nothing that can spoil your present and future enjoyment better than your past. Repeatedly going back to the past keeps you from enjoying the present life that you have, and actually destroys your future even before it happens. How?
Reminiscing about the past makes us think of different things that are not necessarily beneficial for us. If our past is pretty rocky and full of failures and mistakes, it is likely that regret, remorse and guilt will plague us and hinder us from experiencing the fullness of life that we have available in Christ (see John 10:10).
If one's past is full of success and good things, on the other hand, there can also be the tendency to become stuck in it, hoping for a return of the "glory days". This stops people from experiencing God's best today, and keeps them tied to God's best yesterday.
Friends, God doesn't want us to stay stuck in the past. He wants us to move forward, no matter what we have gone through in the past, whether failure or success. He has better things in store. Here's how you can enjoy the rest of your life, including your present and future that hasn't even happened yet.
1) Don't dwell on the past
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:18-19)
God commands that all of us should forget the past because He is doing new things! When we are born again in Christ, the Bible even says that we are made new, and the old has gone! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Don't even think that you can learn a lot when you backtrack and check your past – simply let it go. Don't dwell on it.
2) Trust God for your present and future life
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
God said He plans to give us a great future. As such, believing that we don't have a bright future even as Christians is actually distrusting in God's goodness! Whatever has happened in the past is already done, and if you think you've made utterly irredeemable mistakes, realise that there's nothing more powerful than the blood of Christ! Trust God for everything and do what is right (Psalm 37:3-4)!
3) Stand free in Christ
"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)
Remember that Christ has already set you free, if you are in Him. This freedom can never be taken from us unless we give it away! Live, freed from your past and freed for your life in Him today and tomorrow!
