Are You the Result of Your Past?: Be Careful with What Seeds You Allow to Take Root in the Garden of Your Heart.

By Linda Star

I was prompted to share the insight in these pages a few years ago. What was in my thoughts at those moments? When I was communicating with people in general, and we were expressing our opinions and what the impact would be, I realized who we might become. Then I asked myself what had made me become the person I was. What came to my mind was, Surely there must be a way to share these thoughts. I realized the importance of sharing a part of my personal experiences and what Ive allowed in my life.

I wrote this book reflecting on what weve conformed to during our lives, whether by opinions, influences, or by being tolerant in connection with the purpose of our existence.

We became who we are today by what weve allowed and by the choices we have made. It all begins and ends in our minds. What we give power to will have power over us if we allow it.

Speak only when you feel that your words are better than your silence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512772241

Linda Star

Linda is from Canada her goal is to serve God in the way He chose her to. And to become what He wants her to be. She believes that everyone has a God given purpose that can have much influence around us. Many years before she wrote this book she prayed, “God help me prepare the nations for your coming” She would have never thought it would be through a book. Who we are, our worth, and our purpose, could have a great impact to many who seeks our kind of need.

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Copyright © 2017 .

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-7225-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-7224-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017900611

WestBow Press rev. date: 1/13/2017

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Opinion

Chapter 2 Tolerance

Chapter 3 Commitment

Chapter 4 Tragedy

Chapter 5 End of Tragedy

Chapter 6 The Source

Chapter 7 Decision

Chapter 8 Convinced

Chapter 9 The Seed

Chapter 10 Why Jesus?

Chapter 11 Faith and Hope

Chapter 12 Preparing

Chapter 13 Caution

Chapter 14 Kingdom

Chapter 15 Privilege

Chapter 16 Prayer

Chapter 17 Giants of Faith

Chapter 18 Trust

Chapter 19 God Is Love

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my children Tanya and Maxime, to my grandchildren Jakob, Isaak, and Jaxon.

Acknowledgments

I want to give thanks to West Bow team for their continued support and effort during the process in making this book possible. Thank you very much.

Introduction

Are we the results of our past? Have we become who we are because of our choices or because of others’ opinions and influences?

I reached the point that I was asking myself why I’d become the person I was. That started me thinking about the way I conducted myself and how I saw life.

Children are like wet cement; whatever falls on them makes an impression. We grow up in families with parents who already have viewpoints about moral and spiritual education combined with an already-established social influence. We grow up in different environments, cultures, and surroundings and live in a society without realizing or understanding the purpose of our existence. We continue the way we were taught, and we pursue life by following examples and the influences of previous generations.

We’ve all gotten good educations somehow, but then we get on with our lives in the same way they have always been just continuing in the same pattern from past generations. Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it (Proverbs 22:6).

Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they’ve also never failed to imitate them. We should never permit ourselves to do anything we’re not willing to see our children do. We should set the example we wish them to imitate.

We may want what’s best for our children, but if they don’t have a solid foundation of godly principles, they’ll eventually give in to the world’s pressures and what seems acceptable to them.

And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I’m giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home, and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up; tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6–9)

God knew we’d be surrounded by the world’s standards. That’s why it’s important to help our next generation stand on solid ground. Otherwise, they’ll be the ones who will experience the bad choices of past generations.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated, The test of morality of a society is what it does for its children. Psalm 145:4 tells us, Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power.

We can’t change our genealogies, but we can make history by trying to create better futures for ourselves. Leadership requires the courage to make decisions that will benefit the next generation. It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men and women.

I guess we are who we are for many reasons, and maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we came from, we can still choose where we go.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think (Romans 12:2). We behave and react to situations based on the way we think, social influences, and what has formed us. We grow up exchanging our thoughts with those we’re surrounded by. We transfer a part of us and our beliefs during this back and forth, and we give and take what we’ve accumulated in our lives.

Do we learn? If so, from whom? We’re all influenced by the world without realizing the impact it has on our lives. If we don’t have a solid foundation in God, we’ll grow up in an environment that leads us to become people outside his plan for us.

In many ways, we rely on society to bring a sense of purpose to our lives. We need to realize that there must be more to life than just going with the flow. People don’t realize their opinions of the world are confessions of their character. Those who criticize our