Step #3 - Learning To Forget

“…This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before….” Philippians 3:13

The past is possibly the biggest hindrance to running your race. We need to be quick to repent, quick to forgive and quick to forget the past. The quicker we can learn to forget, the faster we will run our race.

When I think about being quick to repent (change) it reminds me of a time I was standing in line at the grocery store with my children. Mark was 4 years old and Missy was 2 years old. My son Mark was provoking Missy to try and push her buttons as we were standing in line. Like a “good parent” I was trying to ignore them hoping they would solve their own conflict. All of a sudden 2-year-old Missy just balled up her fist and punched Mark right in the face.

Mark looked up at me with that pitiful “what are you going to do Daddy” look. Before I could respond, Missy (who saw what was about to happen) wrapped her arms around her brother and gave him a big hug. Everybody in line started laughing as the man behind me said “She sure knows how to handle a man doesn’t she” This is a funny story, yet it is also a powerful illustration of how quickly God wants us to forget the past and get on with doing what we know he wants us to do. (Missy didn’t wait for her father to correct her, she just instantly did what she knew I was going to ask her to do.)

I find that most people who quit serving in ministry do so because somebody hurt them.
Everybody gets hurt in ministry. If you quit the team gets weaker. It’s time to forgive yourself and others who may have hurt you. Forget about the past and get back in the race. We need you!

Ten Steps For Your Running Race

#1) The First thing you need to do is to Evaluate Your Past Year. What are you doing that works? What were your victories? Celebrate your victories with your team and thank God for them. (It really gives confidence to your team members when they see you accomplish your goals.)

#2) Ask yourself and your team: What were our failures? Why did we fail? Make the necessary adjustments. The question isn’t: Do you make mistakes? (Everybody makes mistakes.) The right question is: Do you learn from your mistakes?

#3) Now Forget The Past. Forget about the your past successes and your past failures.
The Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Hebrews to “lay aside the weights and the sins which slow us down.” The past can be a weight, which will slow you down in running your race. If you are thinking about the past you are not thinking about the future.

Are You Running Your Race?

I love New Years Day because I have a day off to pray, set some goals and get a vision. (Dreaming is one of my favorite things to do.) It is really important to set goals for the new year, but they can't just be any kind of goals. So, my question to you is: Are you running "your" race?

"...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which easily beset us, and run with patience the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12:1

You have a particular race that God has set before you to run. It has to do with the divine destiny God has planned for you to fufill. You are not to run someone else's race, for God has a specific race for each of us. (Sometimes it is really easy to look at what somebody else is doing and think we should be running the same race.) It's good to ask friends for counsel, however our "vision" comes directly from God.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11-13

As you set goals for the New Year, take time to pray and ask God about His plans for your life. I find that whenever God asks me to do something new, it is almost always something I don't think I can do. His plans are always better than our own! He always has bigger plans for you than you do for yourself!