Mission Venture Ministries

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14) 

The Bible is full of advice of not calling to mind the former things. In this verse we are instructed to learn to forget what lies behind just as Paul was willing to reach towards what is ahead. 

We need to learn to be willing to forget our hurts and past mistakes. Many Christians cannot go forward in their walk with Christ until they are willing to lay aside their hurts, sins, wrong decisions; and focus on Christ and what He did for us and repent; otherwise our spirit lacks grace and peace. 

Forgetting past offenses and failures is necessary in order to genuinely press toward the mark of Christ-likeness. We should learn from life’s hurts and injustices, not be held captive by them. Forgetting is often the prerequisite to going forward. As we follow the example of the Apostle Paul and echo his words of “this one thing I do,” we need to realize that in order to reach ahead and press forward it will be necessary to forget some things and let God take care of them. 

When it comes to offenses one of the best things we can do to overcome them is to stop rehearsing the hurt in our thoughts and mind. Unless we do this, we will continue to justify our bitterness toward others, which keeps us from focusing on forgiveness, grace, and the fact that we have often been guilty of the same failings. 

When we look back it takes our focus away from looking to God for help and the potential of viewing our offender in a better light. If our eyes and heart are focus in the wrong direction and we decide to keep pondering on the past, we are giving authority to the enemy to keep us captive in his snare instead of having true freedom in Christ. 

Paul pressed forward for a prize. To him there was something greater to be gained by moving ahead and not lingering in the past. That is true for us in terms of offense as well. There is simply nothing to be gained by going back to past hurts and refusing to let them go. However, by forgiving and pressing forward, we gain a greater Christ-likeness; we gain strength, maturity, understanding, and patience. We grow in wisdom and faith and give both our offenders and ourselves the opportunity to learn from the past and to do what God wants us to do in the future. 

There are many reasons we should forget the past and go forward. The most important among them is the reward of knowing we have done what is taught in God’s word. Here are just a few verses pertaining to forgiveness: Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:13, Matthew 6:14-15, Acts 3:19, Isaiah 1:18.     

We need to remember that each new day is a gift from God, but if the pain suffered in our past is still impacting our life, we can’t fully embrace the new life God offers because we are stuck in a frustrating cycle of brokenness that leaves us feeling hopeless. 

The key to overcoming is making choices that invite God’s hope into your life. Therefore, ask the Holy Spirit to help you mentally take those past experiences and lay them at the foot of the cross, letting Jesus deal with them. We need to acknowledge that holding onto the past is sin because it keeps us from obeying God’s call to move on. 

Remember Jesus paid the price on the cross for our sins and has forgiven us, so let’s show our gratitude and love for Him, by obeying His command to forgive others. We need to understand that forgiveness doesn’t depend on what we consider fair, reasonable, or just; it’s a matter of being faithful to God. Therefore we need to “not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past” (Isaiah 43:18), and realize that our experiences in life aren’t just for our own benefit; they are also to help other people, as we share what God has done in our life by His unfathomable love for us. 

Please encourage others to do the same, instructing them like Paul did to focus only on “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9). 

Hallelujah! Amen! 

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