Forgetfulness

Forgetfulness  

Failure to Remember.

 

Philippians 3 v 13b-14

“but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

 

It’s so easy for us to get caught up in the past. Sometimes it’s past achievements we rest on, where we’ve become proud of ourselves and allowed ourselves to get complacent.  Sometimes it’s past hurts we refuse to let go of which can make us bitter and stagnant.  Both will stunt our growth and keep us, motionless, where we are.   

 

God’s Word tells us to forget the things in our past that would hinder us.  Those things are different for each of us I am sure.  To forget something means “to fail to remember” it.  I wonder what things might be keeping us from reaching forward – stretching with outstretched hands – to the things God has prepared for our future.  What is holding us back from pressing towards that final, glorious goal and winning the prize?  What are we holding onto that makes us too emotionally drained to exert the continuous physical force we need to “press” toward that goal?  What open sores do we keep poking at, never allowing to heal? 

 

If it’s a broken heart from a failed relationship, then take comfort in the fact that the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart (Psalm 34v18). Take Him at His Word.  If it’s bereavement, He will comfort you in your mourning (Matthew 5v4). If it’s guilt that is crippling you and causing you to keep looking over your shoulder at your sin and the aftermath of it, then you need to remember Psalm 103v12 where He promises to remove our sins from us, as far as the east is from the west.  Where we have made poor choices in our family lives, and lacked integrity and fairness in the past, all we need to do is ask for wisdom for the future and He will grant it (James 1v5).

 

We need not be crippled by the things we are ashamed of in our pasts.  If we are truly repentant, we are forgiven.  There is now no condemnation for us.  Let’s live like we believe that.  

But let us also repent of our good deeds, which are filthy rags in His sight.  Let us consider everything rubbish compared to knowing Jesus as Lord.  Our righteousness does not come from any good works that we do, which we give ourselves a pat on the back for.  It comes from God, on the basis of faith.  He loves us not because of who we are and what we’ve done, but purely because of who HE is and what HE has accomplished on our behalf. 

With this in mind, let’s drop all the baggage and vanity we are holding onto, and strain forward towards far better things.  Let us learn to forget. 

Patience is a virtue

"Whoever is patient has great understanding,
but one who is quick-tempered displays folly."  Proverbs 14v29. 

There is such a lot packed into that one, short verse.  How often do we become easily irritated, short-tempered, impatient, ungracious in our dealings with people?  You don't have to answer that!  I can't even make the journey to work without becoming the person described in Proverbs 14v29.  By the time I arrive at my desk I've already huffed and puffed about various insignificancies and trivia, making unkind assumptions about people I don't even know.

This tells me I lack good sense, display poor judgment and am basically foolish.  All because I am a little impatient?!  In God's eyes, any impatience is sin, regardless of how negligible we think it is.  As Christians, our goal is to become more like Jesus, to draw others to Him by our lives and by our light.  

When we lose our cool with our children, our parents, our husbands or wives and anyone else who may cross our daily paths, we are not living according to His will.  It's inexcusable. But thankfully it's forgivable if we take it to the Lord and confess it and ask for his help to start afresh, and seek the forgiveness of those we have wronged.

This is a daily battle.  It's not a one-time decision we make that says "Today I'll be patient" and then we don't live it out.  Would we like others to deal with us the way we speak to them?  The answer will be a resounding NO if you are honest.

When we are not patient we miss out on so much.  When your child wants to tell you about his day.  When your teenager wants to ask you about a troubling friendship.  When your spouse wants to offload about a difficult colleague.  All these things make demands on our time and often come when we are trying to do 101 other things and we therefore become short and snappy.  Surely the people in our lives that we (say we) love, are more important than whether the mirrors get cleaned or the kitchen floor gets washed?  And when we don't allow the other person to finish speaking, and we interrupt with our tuppence-worth and opinion on the matter, doesn't that make us look stupid when we have jumped to the wrong conclusion?  If only we'd let them finish, we'd have understood what they were saying, been able to respond intelligently, and thus avoided looking like an idiot. 

There is no room for hot-headedness and pride in the Christian walk.  If we exercise patience in every aspect of our day, rather than retaliation and knee-jerk reaction, we will find that we handle things sensibly, with good judgement and are deemed wise by those around us.  

Today I have had to submit my will to His so many times already and the morning is barely over.  If I did things my way, it would be ugly and undignified.  Reacting as I know He'd want me to, makes a big difference.  Don't get me wrong, it's a struggle in my flesh because I am naturally impatient, but God is showing me that only by committing my every action and interaction to Him, can I learn to be who He has redeemed me to be.