Philippians 3:13

Forgetting the Past

Prior to the time he faced death, Paul always had a single-minded purpose. To achieve his purpose, Paul put the past out of his mind. Wiersbe says to forget in the Bible means "no longer to be influenced by or affected by." Christians need to forget past sins, accomplishments and wrongs suffered at the hands of others.

The first thing anyone needs to forget from their past is the sins they have committed. On Pentecost following Christ's resurrection from the dead, Peter told the assembled multitude God had verified Jesus' Sonship through the miracles he worked. Yet, they, with lawless hands, took him and killed him. Peter proclaimed, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Realizing their sinfulness, they asked, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter said, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Those who have repented of their sins and been baptized in the name of Jesus can forget whatever sins they commited in the past because God has blotted out their sins (Acts 2:22-23; Acts 2:36-38; Acts 3:19).

Sometimes one will be held back by good things in his past. He may dwell on past achievements and fail to continue doing good. The church at Ephesus got off to a good start, but they could not rely on those good deeds they had done to keep them pleasing in the Lord's sight. The Lord had to warn them, by saying, "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent" (Revelation 2:4-5).

Clearly, past accomplishments must be forgotten and good works continued. Many are held back from doing good because of some wrong they have suffered at someone else's hands. Their whole life is wrapped up in getting even. Joseph is one of the best examples of one who was able to forget wrongs others had committed against him. He told his brothers God had used their mistreatment of him to achieve a good end (Genesis 50:20). God can still take the good and the bad in our lives and make it work together for our good (1 Peter 3:13; Romans 8:28).