“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Philippians 3: 13 KJV).
Our past belongs in the past. But for many people, it is running neck and neck with them in the present. Every day they live is tainted by something that happened in the past.
The past would stay in the past if we would leave it there. The past only gets into the present and the future because instead of forgetting it, we remember it and drag it along with us. The past gets into our present to torment us because we bring it there through our memory.
The only way to forget something is by deliberately choosing not to remember it; by not letting our memory travel back to brood over that spot in our past; by deciding to never open the back closet of our mind again.
One reason we find it hard to forget the past is because it is so emotionally charged. We have to emotionally disconnect ourselves from the past if we want to save our present and our future. As long as we are emotionally connected with the past with hurt or anger, we are allowing the past to influence the choices we are making today concerning our future.
We may never completely forget those things that hurt us and make us angry, but we can cease being influenced by them.
Some also dwell on their past because they like to remember their past accomplishments and triumphs. To them, their past is like a trophy room where they like to go and sit and gloat over their successes.
But this is not good either. Past victories will not win today’s battles. We can become so proud of our past successes that our pride is the reason for our downfall today. “Pride goeth before destruction” (Pro. 16: 18). Our past successes are in the records, but life goes on and so does the fighting.
Our past should stay in the past. It doesn’t belong in the present. We must firmly and finally address it and put it in its proper place so we can meet each new day without being entangled and crippled by the past.
Paul was the great man of God that he was because he learned to forget the past and move ahead into what God had in store for him. God calls on us to do the same.
