Thoughts for the New Year:
Where You Are Going Is More Important
Than Where You Have Been
by Ray Notgrass
This is the time of year when we remember the past: special people, special times, and all of the influences that have brought us to this point in our lives. As we cherish these memories, we need to remember an important truth: where you are going is more important than where you have been.
Family Background
Many of us closely analyze the family background in which we were reared. We want to detect patterns and significant events that helped shape who we are and why we act the way we do. "The child is father to the man," so the old saying goes, and often this is the case. The impact of early childhood can be seen consistently in people's lives. When we know that a parent is an alcoholic, or has a hot temper, or was an enabler of a spouse's bad behavior, we have identified a major reason why the children of those parents act as they do.
While such knowledge provides understanding, it should never provide an excuse. Where you are going is more important than where you have been. When you know the reasons for your difficulties, you hold the key to overcoming them. If you decide to live in your past and never risk growing and improving, you are saying that you are a helpless victim, nothing but a puppet who cannot escape from his strings. That is simply not the case. We all make mistakes. Some of us get over them. We have all been treated unfairly. Some of us get over it.
Humble Beginnings Versus Privileged Backgrounds
History is filled with stories of people from humble beginnings who have had successful, influential, and meaningful lives. Thousands of people have come to the United States with nothing, not even a good knowledge of the English language, and have had successful careers and enjoyed economic prosperity. Where they came from was not as important as where they wanted to go.
On the other hand, history is also filled with stories of people who grew up with privilege but who squandered their opportunities and advantages and threw their lives away. Where they came from, even with family name and status, turned out to be not as important as where they went with their lives.
What You Have Accomplished
Some people achieve great fame and popularity, but their success is empty because they do not realize the importance of where they are going. Mankind gives out numerous awards, and all of us want to leave a lasting legacy for good; but yesterday's laurels do not necessarily pave the road for where you are going. "Moth and rust destroy, and . . . thieves break in and steal" (Matthew 6:19), and treasured keepsakes wind up being auctioned off to people you never knew.
In spiritual terms as well, where you are going is more important than where you have been. Paul "was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor" (1 Timothy 1:13), but he came to live in the grace of God. He had it all when it came to background and achievement in his former religion, but he learned that previous success is just as insignificant as previous failure compared to where he was going in Christ (Philippians 3:4-11).
People Jesus Met
Jesus once spoke to a woman who had been married five times and who was living with another man (John 4:1-42). This woman had shrunk her vision for her life down to fit the pattern her life had taken. But Jesus showed her that she could have the Holy Spirit living in her and that she could see the dawn of a new day in her life. Where she could go was more important than where she had been.
Zacchaeus was wealthy--and probably not a little corrupt in his tax-gathering--but he learned that where he had been was not as important as where he was going (Luke 19:1-10). On the other hand, the rich young ruler could not leave where he had been for the sake of where he needed to go (Luke 18:18-30). He was a financial success but a spiritual failure. He had bright prospects in material terms on the basis of where he had been, but he had a bleak spiritual outlook because he did not grasp the importance of where he was going.
Where You Have Been and Where You Are Headed
Where you have been has probably included peaks and valleys, success and failure, rejoicing and heartbreak. Yours might have been a wonderful life, or it might have been filled with disappointment from the beginning. You might have been cheered by millions or lived in obscurity. But nothing about where you have been is more important than where you are headed.
You are headed for an appointment at the judgment seat of God. He will render to all people fairly, according to His standards and not our own. The days and nights and even the years that stretch back to encompass where you have been pale in comparison to the eternity that stretches before you. As important as it is to redeem the time that we have every day, it is much more important to prepare for the eternity that awaits us.
As you head toward a new year, remember the reason you have for hope, joy, and redemption: where you are going is more important than where you have been.