All of us reach certain points in our lives when we have to reconcile with the past. Whether we realize it or not, we all have a relationship with the past: what has happened, and how we perceive what has happened. The past may require self-forgiveness for the ways we chose to react or not react, and for the ways we perceived things in a way that hurt ourselves or others. It may require us to ask forgiveness from other people, and from God. It may also require us to forgive others. It’s when our past starts to get in the way of our present that we need to take a closer look, and with God’s grace, let it go.
In the midst of this rather uncomfortable but necessary place, I take heart in the words written by Paul, who, before putting faith in Jesus Christ, had quite a messy past indeed. He wrote about forgetting what was behind him, thanks to Christ’s saving work in his life, in exchange for something much more fruitful; “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. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained” (Philippians 3:13-16).
As we talked about last week, faith (Philippians 3:9) is the foundation for this “upward call of God in Christ Jesus;” faith is at the heart of life with God. It is faith that drives us forward in our relationship with Jesus. Followers of Jesus have faith that there is eternal life for us, resurrected with Christ. God’s transformative power works on our hearts and minds (Romans 12:2) and allows us to let go of the past, the things that came before following Jesus. In Christ, the past no longer has a hold on us. We no longer need to strive to earn approval, forgiveness, or redemption—in fact, there is no way we could ever even come close to earning these things at all! Only Jesus can provide deliverance from our sins, and the only way is through our faith. Jesus is enough to cover our past and whatever may be holding us back. May we believe the Truth, trusting that our relationship with Jesus is enough to free us from the past.
Paul had an unshakable faith. His letter to the Philippians, written while imprisoned, is so powerfully faith-filled that it is encouraging to us even today, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8). Paul’s words of bold faith, that knowing Jesus is absolutely worth more than everything else in life, including that which was behind him, is incredibly empowering. Jesus empowers us to let go of what came before, and go all in with Him in faith. He will never let us down.
So, whenever our past is brought to mind, whenever it discourages us, disheartens us, or feels too big and too much to overcome, may we remember what is True. Jesus has already overcome our past. Let’s remember to ask Him what He has to say about our past. We no longer are bound by what came before, Jesus paid for it all.
May our faith be encouraged, and may we be empowered to let go of what is behind us to reach God’s upward call for our lives in Jesus Christ. He has overcome. Amen!
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19).
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