The Key Scripture to Letting Go of the Past

Letting go of things in our past can be challenging. We may have past hurts, losses, scars, disappointments, regrets or what-ifs. It might be something that haunts us daily or unexpectedly pops up when we least expect it. How do we let go? How can we move on? How do we have peace?

The key to letting go can be found in Philippians 3:13-14,

"...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.

Here, Apostle Paul shares his wisdom to first, forget what is behind. In other words, we must not dwell on the past or place our focus on the past. Instead we are to strain toward what is ahead. We must redirect our focus onto the future.

Our Lord tells us in Isaiah 43:18-19,

[18] “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. [19] See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

Our merciful God tells us to forget the past, because He is making a way for us through our wilderness and providing streams in the wasteland. He has promised us a hope and a future as we read in Jeremiah 29:11.

Apostle Paul’s next piece of wisdom is to press on toward the goal...and that goal is the prize which God has called us heavenward in Christ.

We must throw off anything in the past that entangles us. We must command unexpected thoughts of our past to go because, in Christ, we are healed, we are forgiven, and in Him we have a future that is better than the past. We have a future with no more tears, no more pain, no more losses, no more regrets, no more disappointments.

We read in Hebrews 12:1-2,

[1] ...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. ****And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, [2] fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.****

When we place our focus on our future and fix our eyes upward on Jesus Christ, we cannot be looking back at the same time. As we only gaze forward and upward, the past cannot have a hold on us.
Paul teaches in Colossians 3:2,

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

And we read in 2 Corinthians 4:18,

"We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

We gain a proper perspective when we are focused on the eternal which is exactly what Paul teaches us to press on toward. Everything we see around us is temporary. Our past was temporary...it came and went. But what we cannot see, is eternal. God is eternal. Christ is eternal. Christ's victory over sin and death is eternal. God's Kingdom is eternal. God's adoption of us as His children is eternal.

With the Eternal as the focus of our thoughts, we can have peace over the past. We read in Isaiah 26:3-4,

[3] You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! [4] Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.

So let us throw off whatever is entangling us from the past and forget what is behind. Let us redirect our focus and strain toward what is ahead, the Eternal. Let us press on toward the goal to win the prize to which God has called us. With our eyes fixed on the Eternal, we can let go of the past, overcome the past, be healed, and have peace.
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