The Way We Should LiveSample

Forget What Lies Behind

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.

The ability to remember can be a good thing, but the ability to forget can also be a great thing.

When it comes to the spiritual life, we must diligently forget many things. Forget your failures, your sins, your regrets, your hurts by other people. Forget what lies behind.

Of course, Paul realized we have to deal with these things in a healthy manner: confessing and repenting of sin, apologizing for wrongdoings, grieving losses, and forgiving those who hurt us. This is all clear in the Bible. But there comes a time when we forget the past, when we turn from the past to the future and pursue the prize of knowing Christ with single-minded abandon. There is no virtue in turning away from the prize of Christ and looking back at your failures. Fix your eyes on Christ.

In May 1954, Oxford University medical student Roger Bannister was the first man to break the four-minute mile. A month later, John Landy of Australia broke Bannister’s world record by 1.4 seconds. This caused a spirited debate on who was the world’s best miler: Landy or Bannister? A few months later, in August 1954, they raced each other in Vancouver, Canada. The race was close from start to finish. Coming down the final stretch, Landy and Bannister were neck and neck, with Landy slightly ahead. Landy looked back to see where Bannister was, and Bannister sprinted by on his other side to win the race. Later, Landy lamented, “If I hadn’t looked around, I would have won.”

Don’t look back. Focus on the prize. Win the race.