‘…but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.’ Philippians 3:13 NLT
In Philippians 3, Paul talks about how he really, genuinely, very–very–earnestly wants to live a Jesus–centred life. But he’s under no illusions. He knows he’s not already perfect. Read Philippians 3:12–13. There, Paul explains something so important— that, no matter how human he is in this life, he’s adamant that he’ll press on, looking forward to his future relationship with Christ perfected in Heaven. What a brilliant example! We all need to recognise where our lives don’t look like Jesus’, and take those areas to God in prayer and apologise. As soon as we give our mistakes up to God, He lays them to rest, reminding us to move on, looking ahead to our final goal of being with Christ forever. But we can have a tendency to keep hold of the past. Sometimes that’s through guilting ourselves, but sometimes in a very different way. In a weird way, it can be tempting to look fondly on our past sins (Really. Think about it… it happens more than you might realise). There’s a part of us all that’s twisted and wants to be loudly proud of those ‘wasn’t I a rebel’ moments. Truth is, that point of view is just not healthy. If you’re still tied to your past in any way, it’ll be harder to move forwards, towards ‘that perfection’ that Paul calls for us to focus on. Think: what have you done (or do you still do) that you feel stops you heading towards ‘that perfection’? Pray your apology, and ask for help. Then hit delete. Let it go from your records, just like it’s gone from God’s.
SoulFood: 3 John; Jude; Luke 18:31-43; Ps 119:169-176; Pro 22:20-23
word4U2day (an adaptation of The Word for Today authored by Bob & Debby Gass) is published under licence by UCB Australia. 2014 UCB International Ltd