Our past experiences can have a profound effect on who we are today and our future. It can shape our interactions with people and what we pursue. It can make us vulnerable to the false teachings of others.
In Philippians 3 Paul advocates the value of pursuing faith in Christ Jesus and setting aside the past. He encouraged the Philippians to disregard the unnecessary rituals promoted by others and instead pursue knowing Jesus in a deeper way: “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…(8).”
As we pursue a deeper relationship with Jesus, we are being made new. We are no longer the person we were in the past. Our desire to know Christ, to be more like Him, helps us to lay aside our past: “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead (13).”
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17, NASB
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