One Last Thing

Tia Parker
Aug 23, 2017 · 7 min read

This life has so much in store for us if we would just get out of our own way, and stop entertaining a mindset that isn’t conducive for growth.

Friends, if we want to go to the heights God has placed ahead of us, we have to pronounce the benediction over who we used to be.

Maybe your past isn’t as messy as mine is, if not this post isn’t for you.

But, if you just so happen to have a less than perfect past, and it keeps trying to rear it’s ugly head right now, I encourage you to read on.


We’ve been flirting with the old us for too long, and we have to stop. The Bible says he who puts his or her hand to the plow and looks back is not fit or worthy of the kingdom of God.

There is a destiny and a call over our lives, if we don’t go after it we’ll never know real freedom or fulfillment.

I’m not saying you should forget about where you came from or who you used to be, but I want us to stop feeding who we used to be.

There is a disadvantage in entertaining the old us, we become stuck and stagnant.

Right up and through here we have to set up a memorial for the old us, it’s time to move forward with strength, integrity and a commitment to who we are becoming.

I just realized what I have been doing to myself for the last few years, feeding the old me. Entertaining a piece of my life that should be done away with.

Friend, it’s time for us to tell our old man/woman goodbye, pronounce the benediction over him/her and be free from the bondage that comes along with who we used to be.

Whatever your one last thing is, do it or say it, so that you can move forward never looking back.

We don’t want to be Lot’s wife turning back and becoming a pillar of salt, when God called us to be the living and breathing salt of the earth. Lot’s wife became a permanent part of the place God was trying to deliver her from, she looked back.

This time we need not look back, we need to keep moving forward to promise and purpose.


There are people who are waiting for you, the you today and the person you are becoming.

Yes the old you has given you the tools you need to adequately reach who you’re supposed to reach, but you can’t be relevant if you’re not completely changed. The only way to be completely changed is to stop entertaining the old you.

There are proclivities from your past that are threatening your future. There are people you need to disconnect from, and reach back out to once you’re stronger, once you’ve pronounced the benediction over the old you.

Friend, we’ll never obtain the full promise if we keep revisiting the old us. People are waiting for us to get it all the way together. Opportunities are being held up because we won’t become, because we keep feeding who we used to be.

So what they talk about you, they talked about me when I first left the scene. Some of them still whisper and look at me side eyed when I show back up.

I could care less, because they can’t save me from a devil’s hell, and give me joy unspeakable!


I want us to ask ourselves a question; what are we forfeiting if we don’t pronounce the benediction over the old person?

We have walked away from some of the things we used to do, but now it’s time to walk away from the person we used to be. If we want to receive all God has for us, we have to bury the old us.

People like to preach a half of a gospel as relates to the promises of God, they don’t like to tell the part we play in receiving those “if you are willing and obedient” promises. Most of the promises are contingent upon what our internal and external life looks like.

What we are expecting from God comes with a price. Christ paid a high price for us, and we expect to have it all without any sacrifice on our behalf. The devil is a liar!

If we want the spouse He has for us,we have to prepare for them. If we want the blessings He has for us, we have to prepare for them.

God has His best prepared for us, and if we aren’t at our best or at least attempting to be at our best, we’ll never be able to receive God’s best.

It’s time to reach beyond the place we are now, and obtain the exponential blessings of God. The only way to get to that place of peace and rest, is to pronounce the benediction over the old man/woman.

What is it about your past that you love so much, you refuse to give it up totally to God? I promise you, whatever it is it cannot compare to the upgraded version of you that is screaming to come out.


I was with a group of friends I’ve had for more than 20 years, and we were talking about the reckless things we did in our past. We had a good time reminiscing and laughing about some of the stuff we were blessed to make it out of alive.

Although it was fun looking back and having a few laughs, there is nothing about who I used to be that entices me to want to return. Sometimes we get with old friends and we want it to be like the “good ole days” again. Honestly those “good ole days” are filled with bondage and foolishness.

The enemy loves to make our Egypt look glamorous, attempting to trick us into believing it was “all good” back then. The only thing that was “all good” back then was the level of fearlessness we had, we didn’t think past go.

Now, if we could take that same fearlessness, to become who God destined us to be before He formed us in our mother’s wombs, that would be great.

But, that’s not the enemy’s intent when he tries to woo us back with false pictures of our past. Once we go back, we realize why God went through those extreme measures to deliver us.

There is nothing but death and bondage there, the “highlights” are the only things that look and sound attractive. The “highlights” are filled with foolishness as well. Too many of us are missing out on so much because we refuse to submit EVERYTHING over to God.

We refuse to bury our past because we are so concerned about what “they” will think of us.

Baby “they” are still in bondage, their opinions of your freedom and change shouldn’t hold any weight with you. Once you completely put who you used to be to rest, “they” will come to grips with the reality of your total transformation and want to seek this Jesus who changed your life, freed you from bondage, and gave you a new desire to live.

Lets love ourselves enough to pronounce the benediction over that little kid in us who keeps demanding to be fed while the Kings, Queens, and Priests who are longing to be revealed in us starve.

I am finally pronouncing the benediction over who I used to be. Be brave and do it with me!

What do you have to lose?


Today is the day I completely bury the old me.

I kill the crippling mindset of poverty, fear, procrastination, and every other ill thought pattern that does not lend to my total freedom.

But, before I pronounce the benediction over the little girl that keeps demanding to be fed while the Queen and priest in me continues to starve, I have one last thing to say to her.

Thank you, I am NOT ashamed of you anymore!

I appreciate the part you played in my development. Because of you I can go into the gutters of life to reach people many others are unwilling to touch.

Thank you princess for giving me a testimony.

All of the times we failed, it was for somebody else.

That time we wanted to be promiscuous and not care about our body as much as I do today, thank you. Because of that we can minister to a prostitute with compassion.

Our journey taught me how to be compassionate and patient with others.

Although I appreciate you and your contribution to who I am becoming, I have to say goodbye, we must depart.

You have to leave me forever because keeping you around is threatening my progress, I’ve fed you long enough. I actually thought I buried you in the past, but I didn’t. You were tucked away, just waiting for the opportune time to resurface, and you have come up to reek havoc on my destiny.

We cannot have that!

If I continue to feed you, our testimony will be all for naught, and I’ll only be able to reach the bare minimum. I have to pronounce the benediction over you, I promise you I will never forget you. I will always recall and recount what God allowed us to live through.

I dare you to pronounce the final blessing over who you once were, bury him or her and reach forward to the high call in Christ Jesus with me!

I love you and I am praying for us!

The Ascent

A community of storytellers documenting the journey to happiness & fulfillment.

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Tia Parker

Written by

I am a Baltimore native, mother of one son, a poet, an encourager and a lover of people! Welcome to Wisdom Wednesdays.

The Ascent

A community of storytellers documenting the journey to happiness & fulfillment.

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