When I was a kid, my parents had a record player. They played records when company came over and occasionally my mom played records while doing her household chores. My sister had records of Shawn Cassidy and the Partridge Family. (this does not reflect in any way my age, simply hers.) Whenever I was alone in the house I would turn the record player on, grab a candlestick, and stand on the couch and belt out the lyrics to the song. I was a real diva!!! My favorites were the 45's and "Scandinavian Hotshot" was the BEST!
My parents got rid of that record player, and like all things accumulated, it came to my house. I'm starting to believe they do that so they can come and visit all their stuff. Hmm. My teenagers loved that old record player. I scoured the vintage flea markets and Goodwill to collect Elvis albums, and all the rock bands of the 80's. My son bought his own record player and took it to college with him. Records seem to be making a comeback.
But some old records need to be thrown out. I'm talking about emotional ones, the ones where your mind keeps playing your history. Emotional records are things that people have done to us, or said to us, that caused pain. Then when someone says anything that resembles and comes close to sounding the same, we get out that old record and sing along.
The danger and result of playing old records (your emotional history) is that you keep getting more of what you don't want.....emotional damage. Here is the thing about old records. They keep you stuck. They keep you assuming the worst, instead of asking questions. Old records cause pain. Past traumas can leave an imprint on our heart, and fill our mind with fear. Our instinct is to protect ourselves from hurt, so we tend to keep those old records around to remind us of our past history thus protecting us from more damage.
So how do we stop playing the "good ole oldies" of our emotional history? Sometimes it's as simple as asking more questions. Was this what you meant? Repeating back what you heard sometimes is all it takes to remove doubts. We can also look at the messengers heart to discern their true motive. And finally we need to take this issue to God. When we cry out to God, "Search me o God and know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts." Psalm 139:23, God will reveal old wounds that we need to address. Sometimes a little house cleaning in our heart is necessary.
We have the ability to experience more of what God intended for us if we allow him to help us remove the clutter and the debris from our hearts. It is never his intention to keep us in bondage over past hurts. So keep the old vinyls, the albums and the 45's, but throw out the old records of your emotional history. Nobody wants to listen to those!