Forget The Past

Forget The Past

Have you ever crammed for a test? It’s not that hard to figure out how to get good grades in school. If you take time to study for a test in school you will succeed. If not, you will fail. One of the keys to success in school is memorizing your material, however one of the keys to success in real life is learning how to forget.

“…This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before….” Philippians 3:13

The past is the biggest hindrance to running your race. If you are thinking about the past, you are not making plans for the future. We need to be quick to repent, quick to forgive and quick to forget the past.

The quicker we can learn to forget, the faster we will run our race.

When I think about being quick to repent it reminds me of a time I was standing in line at the grocery store with my children.

Mark was four years old and Missy was two years old. Marky was provoking Missy as we were standing in line. Like a good parent I was trying to ignore them, hoping they would solve their own conflict. Suddenly, two-year-old Missy balled up her fist and socked Mark right in the face. Mark looked up at me with that pitiful “what are you going to do Daddy?” look.

I was about to bring correction when Missy (who saw what was about to happen) wrapped her arms around her brother and gave him a big hug.

Everybody started laughing as the man behind me said, “She sure knows how to handle a man doesn’t she”.

This is a funny story, yet it is a powerful illustration of how quickly God wants us to forget the past and get on with running our race. Missy didn’t wait for her father to correct her.

She knew she had blown it and instantly did what she knew I was going to ask her to do.

I find that most people who quit serving in ministry do so because somebody hurt them. Everybody gets hurt in ministry, but if you quit the team gets weaker. It’s time to forgive yourself and others who may have hurt you.

Forget about the past and get back in the race. We need you!