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We may fear forgetting, but forgetting things that hold us down and bring us shame and heartache is good. Forgetting the past is the way to empowerment and enablement for greater things. And forgetting is the Christian’s responsibility. If we neglect it, we taint our future.

The apostle Paul said he had “apprehended that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” That meant he sought the same things in his life as Christ did. Paul wanted to see God’s perfect will accomplished in his life. For that to happen, he had to forget everything behind him. Paul focused on the prize before him, not the past behind him—the past he could not change.

Paul had to cooperate with God’s work of helping him to forget. God does not erase our past from our minds. Instead, He forgives and forgets our past. Those sins that we confess, He remembers no more.

The forgetfulness Paul speaks of is a deliberate, willful act whereby we refuse to recall or remember things in our past. We know remembering them will hinder us, so we focus on the Christian race in front of us. The way to forget anything is by refusing to remember or bring them to mind—to blot them from our memory.

It’s easy to forget the past if we’re facing forward and have all the powers of our personality engaged in following after Jesus. And if we see we’re not advancing, we’re not forgetting the past.

We will never reach our full potential in Christ Jesus if we look backward instead of forward. We will live in defeat and not grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ because we live in the past. Milking our past ruins our present and future.

Do your part. Act responsibly and forget the past.