If Only I Could Go Back And Change This

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you went back in time and changed some of the things you did that weren't the best decisions in your life? You know, the old "hindsight is 20/20" thing can be somewhat appealing when the notion of changing your past to give you a better future is involved. This is something we've seen in movies and television shows which causes us to figure this could be a good thing, regardless of whatever effect it would have on the space/time continuum.

I used to think that going back to high school knowing what I know as an adult would be a good thing. I'd do things differently, make a better effort to learn things and be nicer to the people that I maybe wasn't as nice to as I should have been. But this morning as this thought crossed my mind, I began to think about where I am as an adult, and truthfully I wouldn't be where I am if some of those things in my past were taken away and replaced with other options.

Yeah, I wish I would have been nicer to some of the kids in my school. Not that I was a bully or anything, at least not in my eyes, but what they actually saw in me could have said otherwise. I wish that I had not been bullied, or at least would have stood up to a few of those who picked on me instead of cowering down in fear.

I remember one time in like the 5th grade that my friend Terry and I decided to bring our G.I. Joes to school to play with during recess. Man, how I would like to go back and change that. We were harassed endlessly for days for playing with Barbie dolls, it didn't matter how many weapons our soldiers had. And it was about that time that I lost interest in them, and a part of my childhood died that day.

How many things did you give up as a child due to bullying or the attitudes of your peers concerning those items that you loved? This may be one of the reasons that I have always told my children not to care what anyone thinks of them except Jesus. And there in is the crux of what I'm trying to say. You see, if I had not taken my G.I. Joes to school with me, and been ridiculed for playing with them, would I have been as adamant with my children about not caring what others think of them?

So you could say in a round about way that what I learned in my childhood, even as discomforting as it was for me then, has helped my kids become better people today. So if I were to go back and change that day in my history, what kind of kids would my kids have become? I think that sometimes we romanticize our past, and wish to change it for the sake of making our lives back then easier, when in reality we would be destroying part of who we are today. After all it is those things which happened to us in our past that has helped to make us who we are.

There has been much change in my life lately, and I guess I've been doing a little bit of reevaluating because of it. And since I've always said, "If I could only go back and change this, I would be so much better off." this morning I've come to realize that those things in my past are important. They are important because I would not be the man I am today without them. So yes, while there were some hurtful things back then, changing them would change the outcome of who I am, and truthfully looking at who I am right now, makes me appreciate in a different light who I was back then.

Don't let your past hinder you in your future. Also, don't wear the things that happened to you in your past like a badge of honor, instead let's do like the Apostle Paul instructed us, and forget those things which are behind us, and let's press on towards the mark of the prize which is in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!