GETTING OVER THE DISCOURAGEMENT OF PREVIOUS FAILURES

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But 
one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 
(Philippians 3:13)

MEDITATION:
Satan has an arsenal of many weapons used to lure us away from the Lord, 
to render us ineffective as Christians, and to discourage us as much as possible.
One of his weapons of discouragement 
is to get us to keep looking back at previous failures.

It is difficult to move forward whenever we continue to focus on our past.
We all make mistakes at times, but those errors should not define us.
In addition, we should not continue focusing on the mistakes of others.
Jesus gave us specific instructions about considering ourselves 
better than others and failing to forgive them as He forgives us.
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, 
“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 
(John 8:7)

We cannot unscramble the error eggs of our past, so we need to change our focus.
If we fail to ‘get over’ our past mistakes, 
then Satan wins in his efforts to mold us into ineffective Christians.
So where should we focus? What should be our goal?
Paul answers these questions for us.
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for 
which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

ACTION:
Are you being restrained by past failures?
One of the dangers in focusing on our past is that we can develop an attitude of, 
“Well, I’ve already failed so what difference does it make if I fail again?”
This thought process does not promote moving forward, 
but instead it keeps us wallowing around in a rut of failure.

The future will never look bright for us 
if we continue looking and thinking about our past failures.
We need to heed the advice of Paul to “forget what is behind” and to 
“press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called” us.
This includes forgetting the past of others.

They may have disappointed us with their failures, but we are not qualified 
to judge or focus on their past because we are not without sin ourselves.
In his letter to the Philippians, 
Paul tells us the kind of attitude we should have toward others.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. 
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 
not looking to your own interests but each of you 
to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:3-4)

That means we should be focused on encouraging others instead 
of discouraging them by reminding them of previous mistakes, 
or letting those faults affect our relationship with them.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me for allowing the mistakes of my past 
to prevent me from moving forward and pursuing the goals You have 
for me. Forgive me for allowing the mistakes of others to adversely 
affect my relationship with them. Help me to be an encourager to 
others and myself, by forgetting what is behind them and me, 
and pressing on toward the good things before me.”

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