In sports, it’s said that the best thing to have besides talent, is a short memory. Great scorers in basketball have it. Great shortstops have it. Great quarterbacks too. The ability to forget the last missed jumper, or error, or interception is a useful skill. Often it distinguishes the good from the great. A guy like Mark Sanchez has loads of talent but it seems that he will never be a Joe Montana because all of his very public mistakes are in his head more than on Sportscenter. And that’s a lot.
In your Christian life, a short memory is key as well. Paul reminds us of that in Philippians 3. He just spent some time reminding the false teaching troublemakers about all the great reasons he had for deserving God’s love. He then throws all of those things away, simply because they don’t mean anything. We can never be good enough, faithful enough to deserve the love of Christ. He gives it anyway. Paul then goes on to say that he just wants to be like Jesus. Not to earn his salvation but to share in what Christ did for him.
Here’s where the really important lesson come in. He hadn’t gotten there yet. He wasn’t perfect. Few people have had a turnaround like Paul but he knew he still had his struggles. The apostle realized the key to getting closer to the goal. Forgetting your past. There’s a fine line of the humility that comes from remembering what Christ saved you from and letting the old life drag you back into the pit. Most of us lean towards the latter. We get trapped in the lies of Satan that we aren’t good enough. There’s no way that God can forgive you! You know what you did and God knows too. Everyone knows what kind of person you ARE. You haven’t changed. You are disgusting. You make God sick! We believe that junk far too often! Let me point out one simple truth to you. God is God and you are not. Are you more powerful than God? If God can take away your sin and do away with it, why can’t you let go of it? He removes if from us as far as the East is from the West (Psalm 103:12). When we hold onto our old sin and punish ourselves for it over and over, we are saying that we are greater than God! We have to become like Paul. Forget the past and strain, fight, and claw toward what is ahead! Press on towards the goal of Heaven. Fight for the prize!
Do not let Satan hold more sway in your life than the Spirit does. Listen to the voice of truth in God’s Word not the lies of the deceiver. You have a Savior who loves you. He lived and died and lives again so that you could come to Him. If you have believed in Him, repented of your sin, confessed Jesus as Lord and met Him in baptism to wash your sins away and receive the Holy Spirit, you are His. His love is greater than your sin and He has set you free. Keep fighting!
Read Philippians 3:12-14
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