"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, 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, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)
In his letter to the believers in The Church at Philippi, the Apostle Paul told them that although he was saved, he was not perfect. However, he was pressing on towards the mark for which Christ had laid hold of him. While he had not attained it yet, he was going forward towards it, and he was not going to worry about his past as he worked toward the prize for which God had called him.
We can learn from Paul. All of us have sinned. (Romans 3:23) We all have skeletons in our closets because of our negative sinful past. However, once we have confessed our past sins, and asked God to forgive us, He forgives us and we should let go of them. (1 John 1:9) We should not let our past sins, or our past successes hinder our present work, or block our future efforts. God has a work for each of us to accomplish as part of His kingdom building project. (1 Chronicles 28:20 and Colossians 3:23) As Paul said, we are all like a runner in a race heading for the goal of Christ-likeness, we are not there yet, but we must keep on running towards the goal. None of us is perfect, but God can still use us. None of the men in The Bible were perfect, except for Jesus, The Christ. They just believed and were willing to work for The Lord God, and He used them for His purposes. We must likewise forget about our past and be willing to use our skills and abilities to work for The Lord. (Exodus 36:2)
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