Today we’ll continue with some of your favorites (or the passages you have questions about). Email (andy@stm-umc.org) or message me with any passages you’d like added or that you have a question about!

Today we are looking at Philippians 3:13-14: 

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

I love a quote that I read from Tim Keller.  Never let success go to your head or failure go to your heart.  We are never as good as we think we are or as bad as we think we are.  We do not need to live in the victories or defeats of the past. We need to live in the present, looking towards the future. 

I don’t know how many of you watch the TV show Ted Lasso. I’ll admit I’m not an expert on it, but I’ve watched a good many episodes.  In one episode, a player is struggling with failure, and Lasso says that a goldfish is the happiest animal because they have a 10-second memory.  Be a goldfish.  Forget the mistake, move on and play. 

That’s a great encouragement for us today. Paul says he forgets what lies behind.  That means the victories and the defeats. The victories can make us arrogant. The defeats can make us feel worthless.  Forget them.  Don’t let the success go to your head or the failure to your heart. 

Be that goldfish. Forget it. Focus on what the future holds. Focus on what God is calling you.  He is calling you to the goal of full life in Jesus.  Your victories haven’t gained it for you. Your defeats haven’t kept it from you. It is still yours.  It still lies ahead.  Strive for it. Work for it. God is with you in it. He will be with you in it. He will not leave or forsake you in it. 

Forget the past.  Be a goldfish. Look to what God has for you in the future.  You can do it through His grace. The best is yet to come.  Look ahead, live ahead, focus ahead.  

Through His grace, you will reach it. 

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