Never Look Back

How fast can you run when you are looking back over your shoulder - looking at where you came from rather than where you are going?  No matter how great an athlete you may be, we all run faster looking straight ahead at where we are going. 

The point is that it is much better to look ahead to our future rather than dwell in the past.  Just as Lot's wife learned when she and her family were getting away from Sodom before it was destroyed by God, you should never look back.  Although I doubt that any of us will turn into a pillar of salt like Lot's wife did, I know from experience that goals cannot be reached if the focus is on past failures, disappointments and mistakes.  We can never change our past, but we can change our future.  At the most we should take the life lessons that we have learned from our past to make a better future for our lives.

Do you feel like your past mistakes and shortcomings are holding you back from moving forward in your life?  If some, below are a few verses that may help you start moving forward without looking back:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

1 John 1:9

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Isaiah 43:18-19 (ESV)

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14 ESV

New Life Today

So what can you today to have a new life? Remember that no matter what mistakes or troubles you have in your past, you can have a brighter future. Rather than looking back, take five minutes to visualize where you are heading in your future.  Once you have the picture in your mind, write down what it is going to take to accomplish your vision.  Will you need to go back to school?  Do you need help fighting an addiction?  Do you need to make amends with a family member?  Whatever it is that you need to do to accomplish your goals, don't get hung up by all the mistakes and missteps you have made in the past.  And as Philippians 4:13 proclaims, remember "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."