6TH FEBRUARY
Philippians 3:13-14
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Forget what lies behind!
Everyone has done things in their life that they regret. All you have to do is open the Bible to see that even the heroes of faith, like David, Abraham, Moses did things they probably wouldn’t want on their resume.
An important point to remember is this: in spite of their frailties, these men had great faith in God, they chose to leave their mistakes behind and they aimed to do God’s will most of the time. They didn’t let their guilt define their lives and who they were. Instead, they asked for forgiveness and they chose to receive God’s forgiveness, forget what was behind, move on and keep doing what God called them to do. It doesn’t mean that there weren’t consequences, it means that they didn’t let regret paralyse them and stop them from fulfilling God’s will for their lives.
Remember, you don’t have to live with guilt, regret, or shame anymore. Don’t let memories from the past make you think that you can’t do what God called you to do. God doesn’t want you to carry that heavy baggage throughout your life. He wants you to be free.
Romans 8:1: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” You belong to Christ Jesus now. God doesn’t condemn you—he has forgiven you! Choose today to forgive yourself and stop living with regret.
MAKE IT PERSONAL
How do you think your life would change if you accepted God’s grace and forgiveness and let go of your regret?