The Mind ConnectionIhe Atụ

Think Forward

Your mind is a powerful thing, and your thoughts have the ability to affect your performance in every area of life. In fact, your life cannot go forward if your mind is going backward! Thinking and dwelling on past hurts or mistakes can actually cause us to relive the pain and prevent us from moving forward.

In this verse, the apostle Paul is talking about moving toward spiritual maturity in Christ and the importance of “forgetting what lies behind.” Why is it so important to shake off the past? Because if we spend today thinking and dwelling on yesterday’s mistakes, then we’ll never make the progress we desire because guilt and condemnation will steal our energy!

I used to feel like I had to “pay” for my sins by feeling bad about myself. If it was a “little” sin, I might feel guilty for a day or so. If it was something “big,” it might last an entire week! Then God helped me realize that Jesus paid the price for my sin and guilt. When we sin, the greatest thing we can do is confess it to the Lord, receive His forgiveness, then move forward (1 John 1:9). We can leave the guilt behind!

A professional athlete is a great example of how to do this. He has developed the ability to think about the next successful play and not the unsuccessful one that he just had. He may examine his less-than-stellar performance in order to learn from it, but he doesn’t have to wallow in the negativity of it.

What we choose to remember and what we choose to forget has a lot to do with our future. When King David was depressed, he chose to remember the great victories he had before and it increased his faith. In the same way, you can choose to think about all the great things God has done for you and the “victories” you’ve had in the past. As you do, it will build your faith and give you confidence for the days ahead.

God says in Isaiah 43:18-19, “Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing!” I encourage you to get your mind off your failures and disappointments and begin to look forward in your thinking. Because God is greater than your past, and He has a wonderful plan for your future.

Make the Mind Connection: Choosing not to dwell on past mistakes will give you confidence and help you grow in Christ.

Adapted from The Mind Connection by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2015 by Joyce Meyer. Reprinted with permission of FaithWords, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved.