Don’t look over your shoulder… 👀

Apr 12 2025 Don’t look over your shoulder… 👀

How do you deal with the past? You got any ghosts in your closet? Do you hear ’em shaking at night, rattling around in your head? Are you constantly looking over your shoulder at the past?

A lot of us do this. We live in the past. We either focus on something we achieved and we’re still looking back at the shiny trophy, or we’re fixed on a time when we blew it and are so hooked on the memory that we don’t move on.

The Apostle Paul talks about this very thing in Philippians 3. He says, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Phil. 3:12-15)

Forget the past?? Paul was out there killing Christians, remember? Then, he meets Jesus on the road to Damascus and his life is changed. He became one of the most prolific followers of Jesus Christ! Paul figured it out–with God’s help, he left his past behind and ran full steam ahead towards what God called him to do.

How do you forget what is behind?

1. To forget your past, you first have to remember it. Ask God to help you remember.
2. Next, review it. Think it through. Pray about it. Seek wise counsel to help you.
3. Learn from it. Ask God to show you where you need to repent or forgive. Then do it.
4. Finally, forget it. Take what you’ve learned and move on.

What is God calling you to do?

That’s easy. There are only two things last forever: God’s word and people. God has called you to invest yourself (time, energy, resources) in both.

Are you in the Word? You cannot do what you do not know. The largest study on the effect of the Bible on people’s lives was conducted a few years ago by the Institute for Biblical Research. They studied the effect of reading the scriptures on somebody’s life depending on how many days a week they read it.

Here’s what they found:

• If somebody reads the Bible one day a week, it has almost no effect on their life at all.
• If somebody reads the Bible two or three days per week, you can see it, but the difference is negligible.
• When somebody crosses the rubicon from reading the Bible to at least four times a week, that person is:
  • 228% more likely to share their faith
  • 407% more likely to memorize scripture
  • 30% less likely to struggle with loneliness, depression, or anxiety

Here’s the big idea:

When the Word–and not the world–becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change.

So, there you go! You may not realize it, but you have everything you need. God’s adopted you. He’s redeemed you. He’s forgiven you. He gives you wisdom. He gives you the Holy Spirit. He’s given you a prominent part in implementing His plan for this planet. If you have been born again, then you already have all the promises of God.

So, act like it. Live like it!

Until next time,
John