of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). It accomplishes nothing of spiritual value to dwell on sin, hurt, suffering, or difficulty. We are to dwell on Christ and look forward to what He is going to do. We should enter each successive phase of life with hope of what God can do, not living mired in failures of the past.
There are things that we, like Paul, wish we could have done differently, but Paul doesn’t dwell there. He chooses to reach forward and press on toward the goal. He is focused on the future such that his future hope impacts his present. We need to live in light of finishing our race in Christ strongly even if we have had a few, or many, poor early stages. We must reach for the prize, running as if we want to win (1 Corinthians 9:24). Each day, we must set our focus by faith on the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. This is a call toward holiness, growth, sanctification, and maturity in Christ. It is a call toward eternal priorities, and it is a call toward putting our faith in what God can do.
If we want to suffer another year of failed resolutions, we can dwell on the past, stay mired in sin, and not even attempt to reach forward. But we must press on in faith
