Don’t Live in the Past
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17
We are born of God when accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, and we become a new creation. Our basic personalities remain the same, but our minds and hearts are being molded to the mind and heart of Jesus. As we become more like Christ, old things start passing away. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. (1 Corinthians 13:11)
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 (Philippians 3:13 ESV) The apostle Paul forgot his past and strained forward to what lies ahead. Paul’s past as a Pharisee was to persecute and kill Christians. We all have sins and youthful habits to overcome.
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5 ESV) When we accept Christ as our Lord Savior and are baptized, we receive the Holy Spirit, and we are born of God. We are predestined to conform to the image of Christ. All throughout our Christian life, the Lord changes us to the mind and heart of Christ. We are changed into the creation that God designed is to be.
Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God”. (Luke 9:62) We overcome our sinful past and childhood behavior. However if we see ourselves returning to our past, we pray for the Lord to help us overcome. How can we move forward in spiritual growth if we can’t forget our sinful ways and our childhood ways?
I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14 GW) The Lord knows we cannot run straight toward the goal if we are looking back. We live motivated to serve the Lord knowing we are Heaven bound. Our reward is waiting for us, to live with the Father and the Son forever in a perfect world.
Today, keep moving forward serving he Lord and know you are one day closer to your Heavenly home. The Lord is guiding us down the narrow road, changing us to be more like Christ. He gives life to the full and perfect life in our Heavenly future.
Prayer: Lord, motivate me to spiritual grow moving forward to be closer to Christ. Through the Spirit, help me to not look back, but to use the past to move me forward. In Jesus’ name, Amen