Far too many Christians carry far too much guilt about their past lives and choices they made which now impact the struggles in their daily lives. They look at the godly lives of other Christians and become discouraged almost to the point of just giving up. If this describes you now or in the past, consider the life of Lot, the nephew of Abraham.
We know little of the early life of Lot. He was the son of Haran, Abraham’s brother. The first mention of Lot is in the exodus from Ur. As they entered Canaan, Lot was with Abraham in his journey and even accompanied his uncle when he went into Egypt (Gen. 13:1).
God blessed both Abraham and Lot abundantly, and their flock and herds became so great that this forced the separation of Lot from Abraham. Abraham gave Lot the choice, and Lot saw the plains of Jordan, which the Bible describes as being “well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord” (Gen. 13:10). The selfish decision he made impacted the rest of his life. In the plains of Jordan was the city of Sodom. Lot not only moved toward that city, he moved into that city (Gen. 13:12; 14:12). One cannot but wonder how afterwards Lot may have grieved over his decision.
Stop for a moment to consider how many of us may make wrong decisions which often lead us down the wrong paths. It is the guilt of having made such wrong choices that become part of the burden of our guilt. Lot is not the only one whose decisions impact the rest of their lives.
Lot was like Abraham in that he entertained angels not even knowing they were angels. You know the story of how Lot foolishly offered his daughters to the men of Sodom—wonder if he later regretted this. The angel forced Lot and his family to leave Sodom and soon Lot lost all his possessions, his wealth, his home and his wife to the fire of God’s judgment. Then add the sinful actions of this man in his incestuous relationship with his daughters.
Before becoming too judgmental of Lot, look at how God saw him. Peter said that God “…delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)” (2 Pet. 2:7-8). We focus on his mistakes (and often we focus on ours), but God saw his righteous tormented soul.
Do not misunderstand what I am saying. Grace is ours, but we cannot continue in sin expecting grace (Rom. 6:1). Do not let your past mistakes overwhelm you. Live right, do right, die right! You will never regret it!