Greg Laurie Daily Devotion - June 3, 2008

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Don’t Look Back

“But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal. . . .” (Philippians 3:13–14)

If you want to run the race of life successfully, then don’t look back. If you ever have run a race and looked over your shoulder to see what your competitor was doing, then you know that looking back can break your stride and ultimately cause you to lose the race.

Paul, along the same lines, says in Philippians 3:13, “Forgetting those things which are behind. . . . ” If you are going to walk with the Lord, then you must forget the things that are behind. Here, the word “forget” doesn’t mean a failure to remember as much as it means no longer being influenced or affected by the past.

Here is what you need to do: Forget the things that are behind. While you may not be able erase them from your memory, you don’t need to let them influence you. Sometimes we dredge up the things God has forgiven and forgotten. The Lord says, “I will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). Yet many times we will bring past sins up, forgetting the fact that our God has a big eraser. If God has forgiven my sins and forgotten them, then I need to leave them behind, learn from my mistakes, not do the same thing again, and move forward. Why should we choose to remember what God has chosen to forget?

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.

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The Bible says, "If any man be in Christ, he is an altogether different kind of person. Old things have passed away. Everything becomes fresh and new." That is the truth I want you and everyone who reads this book to come away with. And it is a message not just of hope, but also of Christ's redemptive power.
-Greg Laurie