Do you really want to put your past behind you—whatever it takes? So many people are plagued with their pasts, and certainly God does not want His people to live that way.
Are you willing to admit you are in some ways a slave to that past? Have you come to the point where you know that your methods aren't working and you're ready to try it God's way? If so, there is wonderful hope for you, because believe me, God wants you to put that past behind you and move forward.
The truth of God's Word is our secret to putting our pasts behind us. But in our instant society, often people want quick fixes. To find the Bible's answers takes study and time and devotion. Also, the Bible always gives the truth, and sometimes people don't want the truth. If you are willing to face the truth of God's Word and apply biblical principles, you can put your painful past behind you. Let's look at one of those principles.
In Philippians 3:12-14 Paul writes, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, 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.
Paul is focused on one thing: winning the prize, doing what God has called him to do. He is candid to tell us that he doesn't have his act totally together, and he's in the process of becoming what God desires him to be. BUT in order to do that, he knows that he must forget what is behind and focus on the future.
The humanistic philosophy which pervades so much of our thinking today has caused many people to be very focused on the past. I think of a dear friend who, in trying to find help from a psychiatrist, has instead been driven to her past more and more until now she thinks of nothing else. The future is on hold for her because she is obsessed with her past.
Paul could put his past behind him because he had a goal in front of him. You know, when you're occupied with doing something worthwhile, when you have activities which are meaningful and important, you can put the past behind you much more easily. I notice that people who are inactive are much more likely to be consumed with their past. One of the great blessings of being involved in the lives of others is that it causes us to forget ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment