by Jon Jenkins
On Sunday evening, October 25th, I preached on one of the greatest life principles ever discovered that was spoken by the Apostle Paul and inspired by the Holy Ghost in the New Testament book of Philippians. In two familiar verses the Apostle reveals this life principle.
Philippians 3:13-14 “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.”
The Apostle Paul is not just talking about the bad things in his past being forgotten, but the good things as well. In Philippians 3:7, the Apostle writes, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” The word Loss in this verse means detriment. In verses 5-6 the Apostle lists seven religious credentials that were now viewed as liabilities.
God wants you and I to understand – we have a limited amount of both Life and Energy. This sounds simple, but it may be the one of the most serious of all life principles. Consider these observations:
1. Everyone and Everything has a History and a Destiny! This is true of every individual
Christian and every local Church.
2. Each of us have Good History and Bad History. Your past and my past is called
History (His – Story). It is our story – all you and I can do is read it, but we cannot
change it.
3. All you can do with your Good History and Bad History is Learn From It and Leave It!
We must make our History a launching pad for our Destiny! Those who cannot let go
of Their Past will never embrace Their Potential!
4. You cannot live for Your History and Your Destiny! Rejoice over your Good History,
and Reject your Bad History. You cannot change the past; all you can do is change
the future! You are not limited by Your History; you are only limited by Your Destiny!
5. To reach forth unto Your Destiny, you must first volitionally, purposefully, and
consciously forget those things in the past, even the ones you once counted as gain!
You might stop right here and ask the question, “Why is it such a big deal?”
6. Because we only have a limited amount of both Life & Energy! If I use 40%, 50%, or
60% of my Energy to focus on My History, then that exact amount is no longer
available to help me reach My Destiny.
7. Individual people, marriage partners, and church families that focus on Their Past Or
Their Legacy will rarely reach Their Potential Or Their Destiny, because you can only
use your Energy to look back or to reach forth. You cannot do both!
8. How do we deal with our past? Financial obligations – make them right; Emotional
hurts – forgive them; Personal accomplishments – thank God for them; Wrongs that
have not been made right – make the necessary restitutions, apologies, or amends.
That is putting Your History in proper perspective and reaching forth for Your
Destiny.
You and I had better develop the ability to forgive and move on, or we will stay Crippled, Conflicted and Critical all of our lives. Survival necessitates that we develop the ability to forgive and move on. I don’t just move on because I am nice – I move on because it costs me too much energy to stay angry, and I need my energy to get to where I am trying to go. If I give My History too much Energy, I won’t have the Energy I need to get to My Destiny! How many times have we missed Our Destiny because we kept putting too much Energy into Our History? Put the past to bed and get up and go on today with your Life. I don’t have, and neither do you have the resources to feed both Our Past and Our Potential, Our History and Our Destiny! Our Life is too short and our Energy is too limited.
by Jon Jenkins