Put It Behind You
Brothers and sisters, 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,
I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me Heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14
Leave the Past in the Past
The Apostle Paul prescribes the remedy for worry, frustration, and the paralyzing effect of past failures. That remedy is found by putting the past behind us and moving forward to gain the Prize of God. It is liberating to put the past behind. It is encouraging to put the past behind. It honors God when we put the past behind because that is what He did when He pardoned you. God put your past behind you and set you free. Now, you must put the past behind you.
Why should I put things behind me? What did the Apostle Paul have in mind when he wrote this Letter to the believers in Philippi? For starters, this Church was the first body of believers that Paul had reached on the continent of Europe. There were certain events that Paul had to personally put behind him regarding their first encounters with that community. Acts 16 tells us that Philippi was a key Roman city in the district of Macedonia where they had both worship under the Law as well as pagan practices. As a matter of fact, Paul and Silas were thrown into jail at Philippi because they had disrupted the soothsaying practices of some slave owners by casting a demon out of the young woman they owned. Both Paul and Silas were beaten and mistreated for doing the right thing. Yet rather than dwelling on those bad memories, Paul rejoiced that the Gospel broke out in Philippi through those unfortunate experience. Through that hardship, the Church of our generation has one of the most powerful Evangelistic passages in the Bible. What must I do to be saved? Acts 16:31. Paul did not have haunting memories because he had learned to put those things behind him.
In his Letter to the Philippians, Paul was reminding All believers, that their possibilities are ahead and not in the past. No matter how well intentioned one might be, humans are unable to change the past. Looking back can be devastating.
The New York Times posted an article in 1916 of a runner who lost the 1000 yard dash because he looked back. Joseph Higgins of Holy Cross College was the favored runner at the Annual Games of the Ozanam Association. The race, however, was won by another runner by the name of Dave Caldwell of the Boston Athletic Association due to Higgins unthinkable act. Nearing the finish line, Higgins glanced over his shoulder while Caldwell lunged forward and won the race. (according to NY Times Archives, February 20, 1916). While looking back for Higgins caused a disappointing loss, looking back for the Christian is tragic.
Why should I put things behind me? Paul states the reason in the text. 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. The believer has not attained the goal. For our runner Higgins, he had not reached the finish line. In other words, there is more ahead of you that is far more valuable than what is behind you. A proverb came to mind that admonishes us that we have only one reason to look back and then we should not take too much time. The only reason to look back is to see how far God has brought us.
Looking back also results in missed opportunities. While Higgins was looking back, his opponent, Dave Caldwell, was doing the other thing that the Apostle Paul suggests. Caldwell was “straining forward.” The Christian race is not the type of race that one wins by looking back. Christ Jesus is calling us forward.
Jesus spoke a warning: the one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. You are not only wasting your time, but you are also wasting God’s time. No matter how much Tyrone Davis sung about it, you cannot turn back the hands of time.
How to Put it Behind You?
Many will argue that putting things behind you is easier said than done. Actually it is easier done than said. The more conversation that centers on things behind will only stir up the memories and cause you to rehash old tragic events. Except for the passage in Acts 16, you never hear of Paul recalling his trauma at Philippi. Specifically, in the book of Philippians, the Apostle was busy with prompting them forward in faith. The times were challenging and the Church needed to be motivated by something other than what happened yesterday. At some point, the Child of God must learn strategies for moving past the past.
Dr. David Jeremiah provided some wonderful insight into putting the past behind. There are three areas that the Christian needs to cultivate if they are to strain forward in faith. First, there must be the Discipline of Focus. Put simply, what is capturing your view? If your view is being captured by the past instead of Christ, you not only have a problem with “looking back,” you have literally built an idol from your own past experiences. That is dangerous. What’s the remedy for that? Stop looking back at what did or did not happen. Brothers and sisters, 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.
King Saul was the first anointed king of Israel in the Old Testament, but he is a classic example of someone who could not let go of the past. In particular, there was one song that the Jewish women sang in his day that got on his nerves. “Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands.” That song haunted him and rather than let it go he allowed it to fester into bitterness, anger, and then rage. He finally died in battle and perhaps with that same song playing in his mind. Don’t be like king Saul, let it go.
The second key to putting things behind you centers around the discipline of forgetting. According to Dr. Jeremiah, this discipline helps us to refuse to be paralyzed or rendered complacent. In other words, people become so traumatized by their past that it affects their energy and motivation. Brothers and sisters, 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. The whole idea of forgetting is so that we would watch where we are going now. Looking behind presents a huge distraction. For that reason, while you are driving you spend most of your time looking through the windshield and not your rear view mirror. One is bigger than the other.
In Genesis 19:17, the Angels commanded Lot and his family to flee from the city of Sodom and “don’t look back.” As it turned out, Lot’s wife, for whatever reason, decided she was going to look back. When she did, she was turned into a pillar of salt. She was paralyzed by what was behind her. Lest you think that “looking back” is a small matter you need to think again. Jesus said in His warnings of the end times, “remember Lot’s wife.” Luke 17:32. Jesus warns us lest we should be paralyzed in our faith. So, for the Lord’s sake put things behind you.
The third key principle for putting things behind you is the Discipline of Following. This is our attitude for intensely pursuing Christ. When our heart is on serving and honoring Christ, that holy desire will keep us from dwelling on the past. Yes, things happened but that was then, this is now. The child of God must hotly pursue their prize of following Jesus Christ. I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me Heavenward in Christ Jesus.
First, Paul says it is the goal and not just a goal. It is not just one of the things we must do it is THE THING. Nothing else should demand our attention other than pursuing God with all our heart mind and soul. Think about it, what if Jesus allowed the things done to Him impact His pursuit of us. Short answer: we would be lost. Jesus focused on you and me and the entire world in need of Salvation. Therefore, make Christ your goal because you were His Goal.
The second thing Paul brings out is that it is a prize. The prize is something that is of value. It is the reason why runners enter a race. They don’t just run to take up time or to show how fast they can run. They want to win. As Christians, we have already won the race through Jesus Christ. Why in the world would we want to spoil the victory by looking back at things that do not matter? I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me Heavenward in Christ Jesus.
The final thing that Paul brings out is what the prize means to every child of God. I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me Heavenward in Christ Jesus. This prize has benefits that are more than just winning the race. This prize has to do with God calling me Heavenward in Christ Jesus. In other words, I am going to receive the Crown in Christ Jesus. His Glory will be shared with me. No, none of us deserve it but thank God we will receive it. With that in mind, I have no reason to look back.