Philippians 3:13-14
13Brothers, 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, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
13Brothers, 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, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
I was trying to find out what Paul was thinking when he penned those verses. Why did he say that the one thing he did was to forget what was behind him? Why did he have to strain toward what was ahead of him?
Well, Paul had to forget a couple of things. He had persecuted the Christian relentlessly. He approved of stoning Stephen. After all, he held the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death.
The Lord convicted him of his wrong doings on the road to Damascus. The Devil would constantly remind him of his guilt so as to slow him down. As such, Paul had to deliberately forget the past and push ahead towards winning the goal of serving Christ.
We are no different. We have done things for which we are ashamed of. We have committed sins and wrong doings. But because our hope is in Jesus Christ, we can and must let go of the past guilt because He has forgiven us.
His death on the cross was a great exchange. Jesus, who is totally sinless, gave His life to save man who is totally sinful. Through that act, we have become "the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). He gave us His righteousness for our sinfulness.
We must not ever forget that Jesus has reconciled us to our Heavenly Father. No sins, past, present or future, can change this glorious fact. Our Father said, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more" (Hebrews 10:15-18) .
Never let Satan tell you that you are guilty of your our past sins. He is a liar! Instead, let us be determined to allow the Holy Spirit to do His sanctification work in us. Never allow past guilt to hamper our progress to become the person God wants us to be.
Let's move forward for His glory!
God bless.
Steven
Hi Steven
ReplyDeleteyes, we must not be hampered and not move on because of our past sins. God has redeemed us and we are righteous in His sight. Like what Paul says strain forward for the glory of God. In whatever we do we must glorify God. Even in our prayer life - our attitude & motive must be right.
I was sharing on Acts 4:18 with the pre-teens. Their prayer is not a self-centered nor selfish prayer. They did not pray for God's protection so that they will not be persecuted again but to ask God to give them boldness in sharing and doing God's work. I still enjoy my children ministry as when I prepare my lesson, I learn together with them.