This document discusses overcoming past mistakes and having faith in the future. It shares quotes and stories that inspire living purposefully despite past failures. It encourages the reader to transform their mindset, not be defined by past mistakes, and have faith that all things can work together for good through focusing on God and one's purpose. Examples are given of people like Abraham, Sarah, and Apostle Paul who overcame difficulties and limitations through faith to achieve great things. The overall message is one of hope - that the past does not have to control the future if one believes and commits to positive change.

1. Stella Noku Chikengezha
3rd Year Midlands State University
STORY OF A VIRTOUS LADY
A collection which is filled with some quotes that has inspired me to be the Virtuous and
Visionary lady I am today. I believe that you all will be able to find the formulae and purpose
to life between these written lines and know that your past no matter how bad it was has no
control whatsoever, but you will become that great person you always dreamt of becoming.
It is time we all learn to put the past behind and look forward to a brighter future, regardless
of whatever we have gone through, whatsoever we have done. 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold
all things are become new.’ No matter what you have failed in the past it is high time you
start afresh and transform your life. I am proud to proclaim or confess that i have made many
mistakes in my life, I am not proud of many things I have done. I only wish I could turn back
the hands of time and rub all the mess I caused, but it is all too late I cannot go back to my
past. So does it mean I’m going to be haunted by my past, regretting every day of it, NO
those mistakes has helped me a lot. They have helped me stand on my feet whenever I feel
like life has nothing for me, whenever I feel the whole world is crumbling up on me and I’m
all alone in a vacuum.
One man once said ‘If someone feels they had never made a mistake in their life, then it
means they had never tried a new thing in their life’. Then my hero the preacher says in
Ecclesiastes 1:2, ‘Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity’. I
realised that all is vanity and therefore I should not let any of that control me or paint a
portrait of my future for I am the only person who has the power to do that. Mahatma Gandhi
said, ‘be that change you want to see in the world’, then I guess this also applies to our lives
we can create that change and live that life we dream of. The ultimate reason of life is to
dream and have a purpose then live a purposeful life guided by that dream. Bill Gates once
said if you are born poor it is not your mistake, but if you die poor it is your mistake, verily
whatever mistake you did unknowingly in your past can not be brought upon you, but now
that you know if you do not change then I believe you know the answer.

2. It is senseless to remain tied to the negative past, when it is very much possible to generate a
positive present and future, guided by our opening scripture all is possible if you believe and
commit yourself to it. Apostle Paul in Romans 12:2 says, ‘ And be not conformed to this
world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect...’. Instead of wasting our time blaming other people for all
the mistakes and misfortunes that have befallen us, we have to transform ourselves and tune
our mind to be positive-oriented. We face a lot of predicaments but it takes that one person
who has the mind of Christ, who is able to stand bold and firm proclaiming that I can do it all
through Christ. I used to think that life was a baggage full of mess, but when I started to
think like my father (Christ-like mind), I realised life is the sweetest thing that one ought to
have.
Look around the whole world, what an amazing God we have and his beauty, the one who
created a lot of things out of nothing, the earth which was formless and void, him only
brought the beauty out of it. There is a fountain of beauty that lies in the bosom of our hearts
and it only takes the right mind to bring that to life. Today you might be looking back and
regretting every moment you lived, or you might even regret been born, but know that it is
not a clanger for you to be alive. There is a reason and purpose for your creation, when God
created everything he set a purpose for them all, even the tiny little creatures we look down
upon, they serve their own purpose.
Romans 8:1 says,’ There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit’. This shows that no matter how people
might look down upon you because of the old person you were, you now carry a new title
because you are now in Christ. Then someone might say, you are just saying that because you
do not know the evil I have done, it is all okay my friend whatever you have done does not
matter for now. One thing that only matters is you are greatly loved because you are now a
new creature, living the new creation realities, look at our brother Paul who was once the
persecutor of Christians, today we look up to his Godly-inspired writings. Romans 6.14,”For
sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace’. Grace
has abounded us more that we should not be judged or condemned by anyone, because Christ
unconditionally loves us all. You also can write a story of your own life which will inspire
many people, lot of them out there only need you to save them.

3. Fear has tormented you, belittling you to think you cannot do anything because of your past
or because no one in your family managed to cross the bridge between failure and success.
English dictionary I came across defined fear as ‘a strong, uncontrollable emotion caused by
perceived danger or threat’, this emotion causes people to apprehend to certain forces which
they think have power over them. When gripped by this emotion we all tend to lose ourselves
and follow whatever path we deem possible, even if it will lead us to our destruction. We all
tend to forget that we have the power to conquer it all, and nothing will ever hinder us if we
will not give in to it.
2 Timothy 1:7, ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of
a sound mind’, we are capable to overcome whatever situation we come across. ‘The reason
to our failure is not because we are not able or inadequate, but it is because we are afraid to
make it in life’, many people whom you thought were capable did not make. Even in your
family it might seem as the generational trail to fail, but be rest assured that if you have a
transformed mind of Christ leaving behind all the past experiences all will be well. Romans
8.28 say, ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God...”. God
is no respecter of men he will bless us accordingly if only we love him and be faithful to his
purpose for us, looking not unto what men can say, for we please him only. Jesus himself
went through a lot but he was not inhibited by those predicaments, he was well able to
conquer it all, even death could not hold him neither could the gates of hell defeat him.
The opposite of fear is faith; it is the only thing that hinders us to get that which was perfectly
designed for us. Faith is been sure that whatever you desperately want, even though you do
not have it, someday you will get it no matter what may come. Faith is the only weapon that
is able to drive away that false emotion that causes us to feel threatened of our future, destiny
or success. One great person I would like to recall from, who was able to attain it all through
faith, even though the world seemed to have his life planned out, defining it all for him. This
faith guru made me into believe that the reality set by the world does not have to define who
we are, ‘we are in this world but not of this world’, and nothing stipulated by the world can
ever affect us. Abraham in the Christian faith, was the man who was associated with what I
may term ‘invention of faith’, he stood firm in God knowing that age can never define who
he is in God.
Abraham was in his old ages, and fatherless not that he was the one with a problem because
he had Ishmael with Haggai, but it was his wife Sarah who could not bear. Even though that

4. was the case, he managed to keep hold to God’s promises, that he was going to be a father of
many nations and his descendants would be countless as the sand. If it was someone out
there, maybe he would have given up on God and find a solution to his own ‘problem’. He
never saw it as a problem, but it was a phase or chapter in life which was creating him to pass
the time for greatness and his destiny. A certain sister of mine, who is saying I am advanced
in age, some are now calling me sunset because of my years, am I going to be married. Look
at our father Abraham, sister he never let his age judge him; at 100 he had Isaac, which is
very bizarre, abnormal and out of the ordinary in human race, but extraordinary to him and
Sarah.
What are 29 compared to 100 years, those years you have had my sister should make you
understand that many years of greatness are awaiting for you. Ahead of you lie the
extraordinary works and promises of God, which no man has ever seen, heard or imagined. I
would like to think Aunty Sarah was at first ashamed to hang out with other women of her
age, at 90 people would expect her to be either bed-ridden or back-twisted, rather she was
expecting, something which can never be scientifically proven. Even when the news was
delivered that she would give birth, Sarah even laughed at the messengers, when all was
needed was for her to believe Maybe now you are afraid to attend youth sessions, certain
events simply because you are afraid of the names you are getting and how people stare at
you. There is no need to worry because if you only believe all will work out well for you, it is
high time you brace up all the courage and move around firmly with no worries lingering.
Faith always make one act like a mad man in the eyes of those who do not anything of it,
when you h