Old Tapes

 Do you ever judge people by what they used to be like?  They might have changed, but you will have none of it because you live in your past, not their past? At times people repent after their life has gone really bad.  Selfishly, they want to feel better, so they find some spiritual and practical action path to change.  But eventually,  they decide to go tell someone, “I am sorry,” or “I apologize,” or something that admits to the mess they made of the relationship.  They do this as part of their action so as not to fall back into their old way of life and subsequent behavior.  The victim hears the apology but keeps the same judgment about the “reformer.” The victim lives in the past.  They cannot see a changed person, but only the person as they knew them in the past.  Living in the past makes one a double victim.  Forgiveness is a lot more uplifting than resentment.