I saw a high school friend the other day. We hadn’t seen each other for a long time, and we both talked at once as we caught up on each other’s lives. As the topic turned to high school memories, my friend exclaimed, “I actually ran across some high school photos of us the other day, and as I was looking at them, I remembered how fat I felt in that outfit! What I would give to be that “fat” now!”

It’s all about perspective, isn’t it?

What do you remember about your past that you wouldn’t mind transferring to your life now?

What about your life now would you not trade for anything in the past?

When it comes to the core areas of your life, is there anything you’d trade?

I’ve heard many people say, “If I only knew then what I know now.” Just recently in a small group discussion, one woman talked about how much she had learned since studying the Bible regularly. She looked directly at a couple young women and assured them that being more disciplined would have made a significant difference in her parenting. She intended the women to learn from her mistakes. Sad to say, most the time we seem determined to make our mistakes. And the truth is, even if she had studied years ago, God would still be working in her life now, revealing himself to her and challenging her to grow.

If we’re seeking God – no matter where we are – we’ll grow, which means we’ll see areas in our past in which we were “less” than we are now. We might be tempted to wish we’d known then what we know now, but we can’t learn everything at once. We can’t learn everything – period. Learning is a process. And it’s not automatic. Learning isn’t a default setting. Well, perhaps we’ll learn something by default, but it might not be the most desirable learning.

In order to grow toward God, knowing his character and truth, we must be intentional.

We can’t trust ourselves to define where we are, where we’ve been or where we’re going. That’s God’s job, because he has the best perspective. He has the only true perspective. Left to ourselves, we’ll think we’re fat when we’re thin and wise when we’re ignorant.

Yesterday doesn’t define today. Today defines today. Don’t miss a moment of what God has to teach you today. Memories are great for appreciation. Dreams are great for motivation. But as soon as you sacrifice opportunities of today to yesterdays or tomorrows, you miss what’s in front of you. You might not like what you see in the mirror right now, but without looking at who and where you are in the context of God’s perspective, you’re likely avoiding reality.

Let God define today. Be willing to learn. Be ready to fully experience God’s presence and live his will.

So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. Genesis 1:27