Your past only has as much power you as you give it.

Let me repeat that: your past has only as much power as you give it.

Too many people today live in the past. They care too much about something that happened hundreds of years ago before most of us were born. Or, they're stuck on some event that happened in their lives, and they just can't seem to get past that.

The problem here is that it's really selfish to live in the past. When you live in the past, you cheat yourself out of the life you could live today.

I personally believe that although it is important to know and understand history so that we don't make the same mistakes, it's also a mistake to stay stuck in that history because it denies us the life we deserve to have.

You cheat those around you. Who wants to be around those who are too busy blaming everyone else around them for something that happened to them? Although we aren't always responsible for the things that happen to us, we are responsible for how we handle those things that happen to us.

This will be a bitter pill for some to swallow; most people don't want to admit that they're responsible for their own unhappiness.

When you get stuck in the past, you cheat the church, and it contaminates the church. Don't believe me?

For years Jeremiah Wright claimed to be a Christian and yet he taught Black Liberation Theology and a false Jesus. Although this is an extreme example of living in the past, it is a perfect example of false teaching within the church that can easily be used to separate us.

This type of teaching in the church can cause you to get stuck in the past and avoid taking responsibility for your life. When you do this, it will stop you from being happy in your life.

If you are a Christian, you do not have the luxury of subscring to this type of teaching. It's time for Christians to recognize this and enforce discipline in the church to get rid of it.

Your first step to freeing yourself from the past is to acknowledge what happened. Recognize what happened.

Once you have done this, then you need to take responsibility for your part in it. This part is hard, but it's well worth it.

Forgive those who may have hurt you. When you refuse to forgive, the only person you are hurting is yourself. You aren't hurting those you refuse to forgive. Experience has taught me that those who hurt you usually don't believe they have hurt you, or they simply don't care.

You aren't paying others back by hating them, not forgiving them, or holding a grudge. You are hurting you. Let it go.

Forgiveness also isn't about letting someone "off the hook" for what they did. Forgiveness is about handing over to God those who hurt you. It's been my experience that when you let Him handle it, your burdens will be a lot lighter and your life will be a whole lot easier.

When you find yourself wanting to wallow in the past, don't. You are giving Satan a foothold, and he will use this to make your life worse.

If you want the life you deserve, if you want a life where you are happy, let go of the past and forgive. It is your key, your secret, to the life you deserve.