If you’re a new believer stepping out of a former life of destructive behavior or poor choices, one of the toughest challenges you may deal with is family and friends who’ve lost their trust in you on account of the things you did while living at your worst.

 
Now you’re trying to put the past behind you. You’re committed to following Christ and heading on the fast track to turning your life around. Still, the ones you want most to believe in your newfound faith and productive living seem hesitant to connect with you like they used to. They may seem vague about proposed “get-togethers” or appear detached and aloof. They may take an unusually long time to return your texts. This might be a friend, a sibling, a parent, or even one of your own kids. In short, you feel as if the people you love don’t trust you like they used to.

Give them time and space, while you keep trusting Jesus. Most of all don’t get bitter. God promised to remove our sins “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12 NKJV) – but He didn’t promise to spare us from the consequences of our sins. Stay humble and forgiving. Take full ownership of any past sins without allowing them to own you. Lay the past at the foot of the cross and tell whoever you might need to that you’re sorry. Jesus owns you outright now, and He’s got plenty of good work for you to do if you don’t get bogged down in self-recrimination and self-hate — you’ve had enough of that.

 
Study the life of the Apostle Paul. Paul called himself the ‘chief of sinners’ before he came to Christ. Think of what a loss for the world if he would have become discouraged by his past sins or ‘threw in the towel’ because of the rejection of others. Now read what he wrote to Timothy in (1 Timothy 1:12-17 NKJV).