…but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

                                                                                                Philippians 3:13b-14 

Main Point: True victory comes when we successfully put our past behind us.

Putting our past behind us is sometimes easier said than done. The more “baggage” we seem to have, the more difficult it can become to put away. Paul was no stranger to having baggage in his past. Before meeting Jesus Christ, he was a Pharisee and bent on the destruction of those belonging to what he viewed as the dangerous sect known now as Christianity. Whether he was directly responsible for the imprisonment and execution of Christians, he certainly approved and promoted it. Paul was zealous in his actions against the early church. He was sincere in his belief that he was acting in a responsible way. All of that changed on the road to Damascus. Although Paul was given a brand new life, the memory of his old one certainly did not vanish. Can we even begin to imagine what it would have been like to be the featured speaker and gospel preacher, coming to the same communities in which he was responsible for jailing or killing people? Talk about baggage. Once an enemy to the church, he was now an advocate and participant. It would only be natural for some to be skeptical and hesitant in trusting Paul given his past reputation and some were just that.

When Paul writes to the church in Philippi, he speaks on what it means to advance in life, not advancement for the sake of selfish gain rather advancement for the opportunity of serving God. And what is the one thing that he suggested was at the center of this forward movement? Paul said that he would, “press on.” Forgetting what was in his past and focusing and moving forward with his life, Paul would press on!

Setting our minds on things to come and not allowing the past to creep in and steal our focus and commitment can be easier said than done. The enemy is constantly bringing up our failures and reminding us of our inadequacy. Adopting Paul’s attitude of pressing on in our lives is essential if we are to ever discover true victory in this life. The past is the past and there is nothing that we can do about it now. What we can do, however, is live today and hope for tomorrow. When we focus all of our energy and time on past events, we are essentially robbing ourselves of the ability to be what God has designed for us to be today. The enemy is all too aware of our potential in Christ and will therefore take us out of the victory that is today only to take us to the despair that is our past failures.

God has granted us a powerful weapon in the fight against the enemy and his efforts to derail our present efforts. This powerful weapon is our faith. Consider the following:

…in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

                                                                                                                   Ephesians 6:16 

Our faith acts like a shield. This spiritual shield is capable of extinguishing all of the attempts the enemy throws our way in an effort to defeat us. When Paul said that he would press on, he was vowing to complete the calling that was on his life. That calling came from God Himself. What we need to remember is that as we exercise our faith in Jesus Christ and press on determined to complete that calling He has placed on our lives, He (God) is faithful to complete what He has begun.

True freedom comes when we rest in the completed work of Christ on the cross for our salvation. True wealth comes to the individual that can say he/she belongs to Jesus. True righteousness comes through faith in Christ and true victory comes as we move beyond our past into a whole-hearted trust in Jesus to complete what He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6). I pray that you are finding the tremendous benefits of knowing and serving the living God!