Prisoners of the past – Part 2

From part one of this message, we saw who a victim is and the victim mindset. Today, we shall discuss traits exhibited by prisoners of the past. First and foremost, you see a prisoner of past suffering from low self-esteem. Due to what he has passed through, he feels marginalised and tends to be bellicose when dealing with people. He tends to dominate and command people to respect him.

They easily feel intimidated. Secondly, he is always aggressive to a passive oppression, being aggressive in his approach to situations around them. Thirdly, they unconsciously depend on others for love, happiness, joy and so on. They feel the need to be loved by someone else and tend to make people the source of their needs and happiness. Psalm 16.11 Fourthly, their lives are characterised by fear of returning to their former state, which makes them to build a defence mechanism around themselves.

Such people become unconsciously afraid of the unknown. For example, a man who was once poor, after having an experience of being wealthy, will do everything possible to keep accumulating more wealth, in order not to go back to his former state of poverty. He becomes afraid of losing what he currently has. 2 Timothy 1:7. Lastly, a man who is a prisoner of the past always focuses on the bad or wrong things rather than the good ones. He sees only bad things in every situation. He is always sad and moody; hence he sees no reason why he should be happy.

The following are the repercussions of being a prisoner’s of the past: Firstly, You will subject the lives of innocent people in your present life to a crime sentence they did not commit. For example, Jane was in relationship with Fred and in the course of the relationship, she was cheated on, abused, violated and betrayed by Fred. They broke up and the relationship ended. Along the line, if she comes in contact with a new friend Emma, in her sub-consciousness she may likely see and relate with Emma as Fred.

All the evil Fred did to her, she will unconsciously begin to pour it on Emma and make him suffer what he knew nothing about.The one in her present life begins to pay for what he has no idea of, thereby using the past to destroy the present. Heb. 12:15. Secondly, when you are a prisoner of the past, you remain emotionally unavailable to people to love you. You are afraid of the same thing happening to you again, and you bottle up and shun others. Thirdly, when you are a prisoner of the past, your countenance displays your condition. You are always angry, and find it difficult to be happy, always wearing a sad face. You have an unapproachable countenance and you end up driving away people that would have been a blessing to you. You cannot be a lone ranger, you cannot fulfil destiny on your own; you need helpers. Exodus 2.5

Below are ways through which you can come out of the prison: First is to face the prison. Come to the realisation that you are in a prison and break out of it. Secondly, face the pain. There are three things involve in facing the pain. First is to face the fact, then face the feeling and lastly, face the anger. Pain is never released if it is not expressed. Express the pain, release it and let it go. Thirdly, face the pardon. Forgive and pardon the perpetrator of the act, so as to also free yourself from the bondage. Fourthly, face the promise. Isaiah 43:18-19. Look at God’s promise for your life. Your life is not tied to the poverty that held you bound or the man/woman that abused you. Don’t remain in the past; rather focus on where you are going. Forget about your past sorrows and focus on the future. Lastly, face the prayers. Cry to God in in prayers. 2 Corinth 10.4.