What do you need to leave at the foot of the cross so you can live a joy-filled life? Are you hanging onto past hurts? Are you overwhelmed from your past mistakes and bad decisions? Do you replay moments in your life over and over again, wishing that it all would have turned out differently? Are you stuck in your past and feel like you can’t move forward?
In Philippians 3:13-14, the apostle Paul writes, “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 (NIV). The apostle Paul speaks of his past and present life as if it were a race. Runners keep moving forward with their eyes set on the finish line. They do not stop and look back. They keep moving forward!
Before his conversion to Christianity, Paul actually worked diligently to persecute and eradicate those believing in the teachings of Jesus. After he converted to Christianity, he could not escape the memory of days when he had persecuted those believing in Jesus Christ. Paul stood by while the first martyr was stoned to death.
As Paul thought of those things, they paralyzed his apostleship. He did not feel worthy to be an apostle (I Corinthians 15:9). As time passed, God enabled him to realize his forgiveness and know his past mistakes were forever forgotten (Psalm 103:12).
If Paul had not turned his focus away from his past and pressed forward, he would not have written the book of Romans, Corinthians I and II, and ten other gospels that give all of us guidance today. He would not have been successful in spreading the word of God in his lifetime nor in our lifetime through the written word, which we have today.
Like Paul, we must cut ourselves free from the hurts and mistakes of the past, if we are to move forward to a better future. The hurts of the past will dim as we cultivate new interests, new relationships, and new activities.
Do you have people in your life you would like to get to know better? Spend time with them. Is there something you love doing like reading, hiking, or gardening? Set aside the time. Have you always wanted to try something new? Try it.
I met a guy from the Swiss Alps. He grew up in the mountains with no ocean in sight, but he wanted to try kite surfing. He did and now he’s hooked. He moved to the Florida coast and surfs as many days as he can. He’s always looking forward to surfing in God’s beautiful ocean.
The shadows of your past will be replaced by the light of your future as you keep moving forward pursuing new interests, new relationships, new activities and future goals God has purposed in your life. No matter what happened in your yesterday, today provides a new opportunity to begin again and keep moving forward.