Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. 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.

Philippians 3:12-14

The truth is, I am a “regretter” We regretters have nets that we can cast wide and deep to dredge up something we said or did a week or a lifetime ago, then we fret and regret , chew and stew. Trust me, such a mindset is not the product of a sensitive conscience or a tender heart. Such foolishness comes from a particularly insidious form of legalism that believes that the kingdom of God is dependent on our flawless performance rather than God’s power through us. 

I know it sounds foolish and it is. Foolish and dangerous to spiritual health. In Christ, God has forgiven all our sins, past, present and future. When we allow regret for the past to overshadow today’s blessings, we deny the power of the cross. We are no better than a friend of mine who rejected the offer of salvation because “You don’t know some of the things I have done. God couldn’t forgive that.” God knows and God knew. He doesn’t make promises He is unable to keep.

Paul’s isn’t telling us to replace a negative thought with a positive one when regret rears its ugly head. He is referring to the kind of forgetfulness in which our attention and our energy is completely captivated by something greater. We must lean into the next minute, day and year with gratitude and joy for all that God has given us. Like Paul, we all have a past, but it does not define us—unless we allow it to. It is simply a history that He allowed in our life to remind us what we would be without Him.  

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us  (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Nancy Shirah