Luke 17:32; Hebrews 9:11

 

What can we learn from Lot’s wife about the danger of looking back?

"32 Remember Lot’s wife." (Luke 17:32)

"11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; (Hebrews 9:11)

And here's the commentary entitled: "What did Lot’s wife do wrong?" : 

"Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught:

“Apparently, what was wrong with Lot’s wife was that she wasn’t just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back. It would appear that even before she was past the city limits, she was already missing what Sodom and Gomorrah had offered her. …

“It is possible that Lot’s wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind. … So it isn’t just that she looked back; she looked back longingly. In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. That, apparently, was at least part of her sin.

“… I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. …

“… Dwelling on past lives, including past mistakes, is just not right! It is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. …

“To all [people] of every generation, I call out, ‘Remember Lot’s wife’ [Luke 17:32]. Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the ‘high priest of good things to come’ (Hebrews 9:11)” (“The Best Is Yet to Be,” Ensign, Jan. 2010, 24, 26–27)." 

When we move forward in faith, our longing is in the future--the realization of our dream or vision of great things that God has in store for each of us. We don't want to choose to dwell on the past--we don't want to look back and claim the ashes there. We wouldn't want to look back and destroy ourselves as Lot's wife did. And we don't want others around us to be destroyed along with ourselves. "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29: 18) When we have no vision, we have no faith. Lot's wife showed she had no faith in the Lord and His promises. And she perished. She's the only one she destroyed. We wouldn't want to destroy ourselves, our family members, friends, and others around us who are within our circle of influence.