The book of Philippians is a personal, heartfelt, passionate, insightful letter that emphasizes central truths about Christian faith. This morning we are focusing on the second half of the third chapter in this letter. The writer, Paul, cares deeply about his friends in Philippi. He writes to encourage them. He writes to remind them of the freedom they have been given by Jesus. He writes to point them to the future not the past.

Every one of us has a history of things we wish we had not said, things we wish we had not done. We are reminded of our past by those who wish to paralyze us, those who wish to render us ineffective, those who want us to doubt the promises God has made to us.

Paul speaks in this passage of "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead." He did not forget the lessons in his past ... but he was not ruled by them. He did not allow his past to destroy his future. He believed, and he wanted the Philippian Christians to believe (us too) that our past was not meant to control us. More than that, God has given us a new start and a new future, and no one can take from us what God has promised.

As Christians we are mindful of our past, grateful for our present, confident for our future, as we keep pressing forward.