“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,” PHILIPPIANS 3:13 NIV
Forget what is behind you.
Forget the mistakes that happened yesterday, the words of condemnation that haunt you, the plans that failed no matter how hard you tried and the way you used to live before you met Jesus.
Forget them.
You have a Father who forgives you, a Savior to walk with you and a Helper to empower you to live as you were created to.
You are connected to the Almighty God through Jesus and loved passionately by Him.
Through the good times and bad times, the easy times and the hard times.
There will be hard times but you will not experience them alone.
You will be triggered to react the same ways you have in the past but press pause when the trigger hits and lean into your very present Lord.
When things get difficult, instead on focusing on all the things you are not, focus on all that God is.
God didn’t choose you because someday you would be perfect.
He chose you because He loves you and He is more than enough for the both of you.
Love God for who He is and let Him love you for who you are: His child, who He loves and is already proud of.
The longer you follow Jesus, the more you realize you need Him.
My college pastor said it was like this, “The closer you get to bright light, the more you see the flaws you have”.
It was good to know that the closer I get to God, the more I will see my imperfections and know more intimately my own flaws.
It was good for me to hear early on that in my walk with God that I would never get to a point of “being an expert ” or “being perfect”.
Your life with God is a journey.
It isn’t a skill to excel in, it is a relationship to have.
Through the good times and bad times, the easy times and the hard times.
Through ALL the times.
“Brother 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,”
Philippians 3:13 NIV
We tend to focus on all the things we are not, all the things we haven’t conquered, all the things we haven’t grown in.
All those things take your focus from God and put it on yourself.
So, forget it.
Forget it all.
God didn’t choose you because someday you would be perfect. He chose you because He loves you and He is perfect enough for the both of you.
Forget what is behind you even if it happened five minutes ago.
Love God for who He is and let Him love you for who you are: His kid.
The longer you walk with God, the more you realize how much you need Him.
How much you can’t do it by yourself.
How much you still have to learn.
The first time I heard this was just months after I began walking with God. My college pastor described it like how it is when you are walking towards a bright light- the closer you get, the more you see your own flaws.
It was good for me to hear early on in my walk with God that I would never get to a point of “being an expert ” or “being perfect”.
It was good to know that the closer I get to God, the more I will see my imperfections and know more intimately my own flaws. Your life with God is a journey.
It isn’t a skill to excel in, it is a relationship to have. Through the good times and bad times, the easy times and the hard times. Through ALL the times.
If anyone could be considered an expert, it was Paul the Apostle and he said this:
“Brother 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,” (Philippians 3:13 NIV)
Why does Paul say “forgetting what is behind”?
I think because we tend to focus on all the things we are not, all the things we haven’t conquered, all the things we haven’t grown in.
All those things take your focus from God and put it on yourself.
So, forget it.
Forget it all. God didn’t choose you because some day you would be perfect. He chose you because He loves you and He is perfect enough for the both of you.
Forget what is behind you even if it was happened five minutes ago.
Love God for who He is and let Him love you for who you are- His child.
Cindy Grasso 