Don't you hate dragging a load of luggage through an airport? How would you feel if you had to tote a couple of suitcases, backpacks, and carry-on bags everywhere you went? What torture! And you sure wouldn't get very far very fast.

Similarly, on the journey along God's way, you wont get very far fast if you are loaded down with a lot of emotinal baggage. The more junk you jetison from your past, the easier it will be to navigate through the future.

From time to time we all experience difficult, painful events and relationships. For example, someone hurts you physically or emotionally, your parents divorce or mate divorces you,  you make a serious  mistake that hurts someone, you lose a loved one in a tragic accident. Ideally, these painful events are resolved in good time. Offenses are confessed, offenders are forgiven, conflects are resolved, and the incidents is finised. We no longer have to carry those burdensome fears and feelings.

However, many times our hurts do not get resolved as they should. Pain is stuffed instead of dealt with. Offenders are not forgiven, fears are not confronted, conflicts are not resolved. In other words, there is no appropriate finishing. As a result, we carry with us from the past feelings and patterns of behavoir which impact our relationships and activities in the present, often in a negative way. Thats baggage, and baggage doesn't go away until it is dealt with or finished.

TIPS FOR FINISHING THE PAST  

God has wired us to process pain and disappointment as it happens in our lives. Most of us didn't know that as children;  so we have gragged suitcases full of unresolved issues into adulthood. Indeed, some of your baggage is directly related to the problems for which you are seeking God's way of help or healing. God will make a way for us, and part of that way involves helping us get rid of the baggage in ourlives.

AGREE THAT YOU HAVE A PAINFUL PAST.  

I have been seen people overcome all kinds of pain from their past with God's help; so I know i can. But i cant overcome anything until i admit that it exist. Until i acknowledge that painful things  have happened to me, things which that was not appropriately finished. I cannot work through them. And if i dont work through them, they will continue to disturb me in the present. So the first step to dealing with baggage is to confess to yourself  and to God that you have issues that must be dealt with.

INCLUDE OTHERS IN YOUR HEALING AND GRIEVING.  

Seek from others the care and healing that you need to finish whatever happened in the past. It begins with opening up your feelings to others about what happened in the past so they can comfort you, pray for you, and encourage you. Pouring out your hurt to others who love you open the door to the healing and support you need. God's process of healing our pain, hurt, and loss usually involves grieving.  Your tears, and the compassionate tears of those who love you, will help you let go of your baggage.

RECEIVE FORGIVENESS. 

Often the pain we drag into new situation is from a failue in the past. In order to get rid of your baggage, you need to be free of the guilt and shame of past mistakes, failures, and sins. Once you know you are totally accepted, forgiven, and loved, you can tackle life with gusto.

True love and forgiveness come from God. He promises to completely forgive you for anything and everything  you have ever done, no matter how bad you may feel it was. So if you feel badly about something you have done in the past, ask God to take it away from you. His forgiveness and grace are always available, ready to give another chances whenever you ask for it.

Your past failures and mistakes may have alienated you from some people as well as from God. Your hurtful words or damaging actions may have made you a few enemies. If so, God's way for you is to go to those people and make it right. Humbly confessing your wrong and receiving forgiveness from those you have hurt is a vital step to leaving your baggage behind.

FORGIVE OTHERS. 

Some of the baggae you carry is the result of  being hurt by others. You may be the victim of a parent's  lack of love and acceptance. Or perhaps you were betrayed by a spouse, abandoned by a friend, dishonered by a child, or misled by a spiritual leader. You were wronged in some way, and you still carry the pain, anger, and perhaps hatred from the offense.

If you are going to leave your baggage behind, you must forgive those who have wounded you. Take your cue from God, who has forgiven your sins. If you don't forgive, your resentment will continue to eat away at your heart and keep you from the freedom you seek on God's way.

Your forgiveness of others does not mean you deny that someone has hurt you, nor does it mean you must trust that person again. The future of your relationship depends on many factors. But forgiveness is about resolving the past. It is about clearing up what has already happened. It is about canceling the debt someone owes you. That's what it means to forgive. You are saying that the offender no longer owes you, that you are releasing him or her from all grudges, penalties and retribution.

So leave the baggage of the past hurts behind. Forgiveness is your ticket of freedom to go forward in your life.

EXAMINE YOUR WAYS. 

Another part of our baggage relates to patterns of behavior we learned in past, painful situations. You may have learned dysfunctional patterns for dealing with life, relationships, risk, and love, and these patterns are causing you problems now and holding you back from what God has for you. Take a close look at how you live. If you have trouble allowing people to get close to you, examine that pattern to see how it is limiting your relationships. If you tend to avoid conflict, examine that pattern to see how it is actually prolonging conflict. If you have learned to avoid any risk in an attempt to control your environment, notice how that pattern has imprisoned you.

Behavior patterns from your past maybe ruining your present life. Examine your ways of dealing with people and problems which may be trapping you in the past. Allow God to make a way for you into a better future by helping you let go of the patterns of the past. 

SEE YOURSELF THROUGH NEW EYES. 

Another kind of baggage we carry around is the distorted view of ourselves we learned in past relationships or situations. We see ourselves through the people who love us and sometimes through the eyes of those who we don't. Our self-concept is a relational vission. We tend to look at ourselves through the eyes of others who are important to us. This why some people suddenly blossom in healthy new relationships where they are valued as God's creation. It is also how other people grow to loathe themselves in relationships where they are devalued and mistreated.

How do you see yourself? Is your self-view realistic? Is it balanced with streghths and value as well as weaknesses and growth areas? Do you see yourself as loved?

If you are going to move forward in your life and find God's way for you, you must to see yourself realistically through the eyes of those who really love you. Begin by taking a look at yourself through God's eyes, for he loves you uncondionally and values you highly. Add to this the images you get from your dearest and most trusted relationships those who love you as God does. This new you will begin to replace the distorted picture that has caused you such grief.

LEAVE THE PAST IN THE PAST 

In the Bible, when God rescued Lot and his wife from wicked Sodom and Gomorrah, he warned them against looking back. But Lot's wife was unable to let go of people and things in her past. S he looked back and turned into a pillar of salt {Genesis 19:17-26}. Jesus used her as an example when teaching us to let go of harmful things that keep us from him.

Holding on to the baggage of the past will disable us from our journey with God. His way out is to deliver you from the hurt, unforgiveness, and disfunctional patterns of our past. Ask God to show us how to leave our baggage behind....