Victim or Victor

We are a victim of the past or a victor in spite of the past. We are a victim or a victor in life because we have a connection to Christ. We always have the choice of turning defeat into victory. The problems in the world seem to mount daily. In the world, there are dysfunctional families rendered dysfunctional due to alcoholism, drug abuse, molestation, physical abuse, verbal abuse, rape, and violence from the street, medical problems, handicaps and disabilities, divorce, educational failure, unplanned pregnancy, unemployment, financial failure, and more. The list of social sicknesses in our lives could go on and on. These sicknesses did not start yesterday, or last week, or even 20 or 30 years ago. These problems started when man fell in the Garden of Eden. The tragedy of family life and the problems people have are problems handed down from one generation to the next. Our past is often a ball and chain around our neck. Our past is often like a ghost haunting us. Each of us carries burdens from the past. Our human response to these burdens, to problems, to a broken past, is to resolve not to be like someone else. However, our response ought to be to let Christ touch us. Our past never leaves us, but His touch can heal our broken lives caused by the past. Without the touch of Christ, we are victims of our past. No matter what we do, no matter where we go, no matter who we are with, our past goes with us. No human effort can work the miracles of Christ's love. Only through His touch can we be really healed. Christ's love can mend the broken heart, fix broken dreams, repair broken lives, heal broken bodies, and give us a new perspective on our past experiences. The love of Christ, through His blood, washes away our sin and with it the sicknesses and burdens from our past.