John 19:22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
These are the words of a previous man who just crucified an innocent man because he did not have the back bone to stand up to the religious leaders of the day. Pilate could have freed Jesus but he did not because the Jewish rulers pressured him into killing Jesus. He had pronounced Jesus innocent; he knew the religious leaders had brought Je us to be crucified because of their jealousy, envy and insecurity. These religious leaders knew Pilate’s insecurity as well. They said, “If you do not kill Him (Jesus) you are no friend to Caesar. Jn 19:12. Pilate did not want any word of a man claiming to be king being set free. Then after he had Jesus crucified, he wrote the superscription over Jesus on the cross Jn 19:19-22. Pilate was angry with the religious rulers and refused to change the title over Jesus. He stood be what he wrote and his words are fitting for us today as we enter into a new year – what we have written, we have written.
We can all think of things we would do differently if we had the power to do so, but the past is beyond recall and doing over. We cannot undo what we have done, we cannot unsay what we have said, we cannot unsee what we have seen and we cannot unthank what we have thought. The past has turned its back upon us never to return in this life. I say in this life because we will all go out to meet our sins in the future – at the judgment – unless we have put them under the blood and the forgiveness of Christ. We are the cause of many things that happen to us – God only permits us to choose and act within the scope of our free wills and choices. Those choices and actions have consequences. We may be forgiven the sin and transgression of them before God, but the damage, pain and suffering we cause others may be the consequence. Broken relationships, miss trust and other relational issues may still be present.
The doors of opportunities have closed and what could have been is gone to the past. Those memories hay haunt us the rest of our life. David’s sin caused the death of his infant son and he said 2 Sam 12:23. The words, interactions, insults, deeds – all of these from 2020 are gone and we cannot get them back to relive, re-say or do over.
. Paul’s advice
We have to live beyond the past Phil 3:13-14 -- Paul’s past was bad 1 Tim 1:13
He received mercy and forgiveness thru the blood of Christ. He never forgot what he had done and he probably saw the faces of those he had killed but he reached forward not permitting the past to hinder the present or the future. He made confession and repentance and now he pressed forward to the heavenly city.
It’s the same for us today
If we have regrets from the past, then learn from them and confess our sin and wrong; our mistakes and endeavor to do better – with God’s help and grace.
Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is our self. We live and re-live those sins and errors of the past and it hinders our progress today. We need to purge our conscience of these Heb 9:14.
Start a new course for your life
Use the past as stepping stones not stumbling blocks. We all begin this spiritual life as babes in Christ – foolish, weak, insecure and very ignorant of many things pertaining to life. We do not know how to manage and align our personality traits to the truth of the gospel and spiritual life, but we will if we learn from the past.
We all need to mature in our spiritual walk
Get rooted and built up in His love and grace. Seek single-mindedness to Christ. Draw closer to God. Read His word and pray more regularly. Become more sensitive to His voice and the Spirit’s leading. Seek to gain understanding 1 Cor 14:20 -- ask for understanding of the holy Prov 9:10. As we walk this spiritual walk we choose to be holy or just “so-so” in our walk; God the holy and God will grant you understanding.
Seek knowledge 2 Pet 3:18
Llearn from instruction/reproof Prov 10:17 and do not ignore or fight against reproof Prov 15:31
Speak a shade more kindly than the year before
Pray a little oftener; love a little more;
Cling a little closer to the Father’s love;
Thus life below shall liker grow to life above.