“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 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. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (Philippians 3:7-16,NIV)
Those who are mature forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead. They forget past sins. Those things have been forgiven. God is not worrying over them any more. Why should you or I concern ourselves with them at all? It is the devil who gets us to obsess over past mistakes. Recognize his accusations as false and move on.
Those who are mature also forget past victories that are behind. They thank God for his goodness to them here and now. They keep following after him. They keep growing and never imagine that they have arrived at some state of saintliness that puts them out of temptation’s reach. They celebrate God’s goodness when he brings good things into their lives. They rejoice with others when they grow. Then they press on. They keep going after more and more of God – more of his presence, more of his guidance, more of his power to minister to others. Their specific tasks may change over time, but the mature believer does not retire from God’s service. Forgetting what is behind – both the good and the not so good – they press on.
Are you pressing on? Are you doing what God’s called you to do? I urge you to do so in the power the God gives to those who believe.
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