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FORGETTING
“Brothers, 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.
Philippians 3:13
People spend a lot of money on nutritional supplements
to help them remember things when in fact, there are
certain times and things that we would be better off
forgetting. This is exactly what the apostle Paul
was talking about in this scripture. He was going
to choose to forget those who rejected him, those who
lied about him and those who persecuted him. In
this scripture, he is teaching us one of the greatest
lessons we can learn in life–keep your eyes on Jesus
and off of everyone else.
Joseph learned the same lesson. He chose to forget that
his brothers had left him for dead and then sold him
into slavery. He forgave them and even helped them when
they needed food because Egypt had a famine. In
fact, Joseph learned this lesson so well that when he
had his first son, he named him Manasseh, which means
“the Lord has taught me to forget.”
Now, it is important to understand that forgiving and
forgetting go hand in hand. I’ve often heard
people say, “well I could forgive them, but I can’t
forget.” If you only forgive, then you’ve only
done half the job. You see, God doesn’t just forgive
us, but He casts our sins into His sea of forgetfulness
and remembers them no more. It also important to
remember that if we forget without forgiving we leave
the door open for bitterness and unforgiveness to
return.
In addition, we need to combine forgiving with reaching
forward to the mark of our high calling. God has a
destiny for our lives and one of the quickest ways to
abort it is to live in the past and have a victim
mentality. There are no victims in Christ!
Leave your past behind you and reach forward to all God
would have you be! That is where you will find
true peace and happiness.
Pastor
Andrew Surace
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