Eight Principles for a Joyful Life - #4

Not putting this principle into practice crushed my joy for a long time. Principle #4 is based on Philippians 3:13b-14 where Paul writes,

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

So Principle #4 is:

Don't let your past keep you from moving forward. Past failure does not mean future failure.

Paul had persecuted Christians and the church before God saved him. Imagine if Paul had constantly beat himself over the head for his past failures and decided he wasn't worthy to do what God was calling him to do. We would not have two thirds of the New Testament!

I beat myself up about my past for years before God convicted me of how wrong it was to do that. Jesus died to set me free from past sins and failures. But instead of seeing myself as a new creation in Christ, I saw myself as the flaky, messed-up person I was before Christ.

In my early years as a Christian, I came close to dropping out of ministry because I felt unworthy to carry out what God had called me to do. But the truth is, apart from Christ, none of us are worthy. One of the enemy's tools is to get us to focus on past failures and flaws in order to discourage us from stepping out in faith to obey God.

It helps me to think about people in the Bible who had a past they weren't proud of. Yet God overcame their failures and used them greatly. Moses was a murderer, David was an adulterer, Elijah ran from Jezebel in fear and wanted to die. If God can use them in spite of their past, He can use us in spite of what our past looks like.

My challenge for us today is to "press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus." Let's allow God to heal memories of past hurts, failures, and flaws so we can spend our time and energy pressing on toward the goal. I had to let God renew my mind and convince me of His love in order to let go of the past. That goes back to spending time with Him in He Word and in prayer. Funny how it keeps coming back to that!

I want to end with one of my favorite verses that speaks volumes about our heavenly Father. When we're tempted to wallow in past failures, let's think about how God sees us. Zephaniah 3:17 says,

The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Believe it!