“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13–14, KJV
As Paul writes to the Philippians, he admits he hasn’t “arrived” spiritually—he has not fully apprehended all that Christ saved him for. Yet he lives with a holy focus: he deliberately refuses to be chained to yesterday and chooses to reach toward what lies ahead in Christ. Theologians note that Paul uses the image of a runner who refuses to look back, lest he stumble or lose momentum, fixing his eyes instead on the finish line and the prize promised by God in Christ Jesus.
Stepping into a new year can tempt us to rehearse old failures, replay painful conversations, or cling to past successes as if they were the peak of what God can do. But in Christ, the past—whether shameful or shining—does not define the future. Our identity is anchored not in what we did last year, but in what Jesus has already done at the cross and what He is yet doing in us.
To “forget” in this passage doesn’t mean erasing memory; it means refusing to let the past control our present obedience or future hope. By faith, we lay down regrets already covered by the blood of Christ, and we refuse to idolize former seasons as if God cannot do a new thing again.
As you step into this new year, you are invited to do what Paul did:
- Release what you cannot change.
- Reach for what Christ is setting before you.
- Run with your eyes on the “high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” not on yesterday’s wounds or wins.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You that in You, I am not bound to my past. By Your Spirit, help me to let go of what is behind—sin You’ve forgiven, seasons You’ve finished, successes that could make me complacent. Fix my eyes on You. This year, teach me to press toward the mark, to seek the things above, and to walk worthy of Your high calling. Amen.