Two extreme misrepresentations of the best days
Saying either “our best days are behind us” or “we must reach to the future for the best days” are both extreme misrepresentations of reality. (Unless in the latter case you’re talking about heaven and when the Messiah returns to set up His righteous kingdom—then it would be right to say).
I certainly don’t believe the former times were necessarily better than now.
Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this
Ecclesiastes 7:10
Human nature has always been the same, and people are still people who have the capability to sin no matter which century you look at in history. Every generation has had its own flaws, atrocities, sins, and problems to deal with.
So human nature and sin haven’t changed a bit from the beginning.
Does that mean we ought to throw aside everything from the past and pave our own ways altogether?
I think not. There is great wisdom in learning from other people’s mistakes just as much as from your own. It is arrogant to think prior generations didn’t have anything right that we can carry forward.
It is even more foolish to consider the principles, teachings, and instructions found in the Scriptures as outdated or irrelevant.
While the opinions of men change and wobble back and forth from “this is right” to “this is wrong” and vice versa, the ways of Yahweh our Heavenly Father stand firm through time. They are always relevant because they deal with our hearts and sin nature.
We ought to hold on to the good of prior generations and the unchanging wisdom of Yahweh’s ways (marriage, family, and respect for life to name a few), and push forward to live more righteous than former generations. That way we leave behind the two damaging, extreme misrepresentations.