My Daily Devotional

Forget the Past

“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.”
Philippians 3:13

So many times when I have counseled friends, fellow church brothers and sisters and neighbors about various problems and issues in their lives, the primary cause of the majority of their problems and issues is that they are not able to forget the past. In today’s society so many marriages begin with baggage left over from broken homes, such as abuse, drug and alcohol addiction and divorce that the foundation is not strong enough to weather any kind of problems and issues that families can face. When godly family core values are not present in a family, children grow up without a foundation in which to build their families on, and when issues and problems arise they are not equipped to know how to handle them. Paul tells us in the scripture above that this baggage needs to be forgotten, and that we need to look at what lies ahead. I have seen people live with their past, and it places them in a dark and lonely arena. There is no life in the sea of regrets and hurts, as there is only a place of hopelessness and despair. Instead of staying in the past God wants us to look ahead to each new day with a fresh hope in what we can accomplish and to depend on Him for all our needs. The Bible tells us that His mercies are new and fresh every morning, and that His grace is sufficient for this day. We can see how God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness as He gave fresh manna daily during their journey. We can trust Him to give us what we need each day and look forward to living one day at a time. The years ahead can be the dawning of grand and glorious days for you if you follow God’s word to forget the past and depend upon Him for your future.