The "Perfume" of Your Past: How to Start Over When You've Already Messed Up

Maybe you're 16 and you've already burned bridges with your parents. Or you're 22 and looking at a bank account, a career, or a relationship that was built on a foundation of ego, cutting corners, or "missing the mark."

When we realize we've been heading the wrong way, our first instinct is often to panic. We think, "I've ruined it. I'm damaged goods. I should just throw it all away and disappear." But there is a biblical principle—a "pillow" for a stressed-out mind—that says something different: God doesn't want you to waste your past. He wants you to sanctify it.

The Scandal of the "Harlot's Reward"

In the Bible, a woman once walked into a room and poured a bottle of incredibly expensive perfume on Jesus' feet. To the people watching, this was a scandal. Why? Because that perfume was likely what scholars call the "harlot's reward"—the actual earnings of her life of sin.

Under the old rules, that gift was "tainted." You weren't supposed to offer that to God in the temple. But Jesus didn't tell her to throw it away. He didn't tell her to sell it. He accepted it. He takes the things we gained while we were "missing the mark" and allows us to use them for His glory:

"To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him." — Daniel 9:9 (KJV)

For the Teen: Redeeming Your Reputation

If you're a teen, your "perfume" might be a bad reputation. Maybe you were the "troublemaker" or the one involved in constant drama.

• The Fear"No one will ever believe I've changed."
• The Sound MindYour past is your "before" picture. When people see someone with a messy history start living with peace and integrity, it's the most powerful testimony on earth. Be the light they didn't see coming.

For the Young Man: Redeeming Your Ambition

If you're a young man, your "perfume" might be the skills or status you built for the wrong reasons—maybe you were ruthless, or you used your intelligence to manipulate others.

• The Fear"I have to quit everything and start from zero to be 'right' with God."
• The Sound MindPaul's principle is "seek not to be loosed" (1 Corinthians 7:27). Take those leadership skills, that "clout," or that technical expertise and reassign them. Use your influence to protect the weak. Use your money to help the broken. Take the "reward" of your old life and pour it out at the feet of Jesus.

A Vessel for Glory: Don't Be "More Just Than God"

The Law can only show us where we messed up; it can't show us how to fix it. It can't make us righteous. Only Jesus can. When we hold onto our guilt, we are essentially trying to be more just than God:

"Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?" — Job 4:17 (KJV)

If God—the ultimate Judge—is willing to take your "tainted" perfume and call it a holy sacrifice, who are you to keep calling it trash? If He has moved past it, you are allowed to move past it, too.

Now What?

If you find yourself in a situation—a job, a family dynamic, or a responsibility—that started out for the wrong reasons, you don't have to run away in shame. Instead, sanctify it.

• Set It ApartDecide that from this moment on, this part of your life belongs to God.
• Be a LightBe a gift to those around you, just as the woman was a gift to Jesus.
• Trust the Maker"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

Stop looking back at the "sad waste" of your mistakes. Look at what you have in your hands right now. It might be a broken bottle, and it might have been earned the wrong way, but in the hands of Christ, it becomes a beautiful sacrifice.