In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote, “one thing I do…” Wow! “One thing…” 

Think about who Paul was and what he did. He preached, traveled, got beaten, got shipwrecked, and wrote letters we still read two thousand years later. So when Paul writes something as straightforward as “one thing I do,” I want to know what it is. Here it is:

“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 of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14).

“Forgetting what is behind.” That’s not necessarily easy for anyone, but let’s take a backward glance at Paul’s life to see what he was telling us he purposefully forgets.

(FYI – Paul also went by the name Saul. Saul was his Jewish/Hebrew name. Paul was his Roman/Latin name. I’m going to call him “Paul” throughout this writing, even though some Scriptures refer to him as “Saul”.)

What Paul had to forget

Paul was there the day the church lost its first martyr. Luke tells us that when they stoned Stephen, “the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul” (Acts 7:58), and that “Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death” (Acts 8:1). Years later, Paul tells it himself: “With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them” (Acts 26:10).

Paul didn’t just lose his temper a few times or fudge his taxes. He voted to have Christians killed and stood by approvingly when it was done. So Paul had some very serious baggage.

But it’s not just Paul’s regrettable acts that he leaves behind. Just before our verse, Paul lists his résumé: “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless” (Philippians 3:5–6).

Paul was a highly respected, well-educated, up-and-coming leader among the Jews. So when Paul says he’s leaving the past behind, he means both: the guilt and the trophies. “Whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7).

What “forgetting” means here

In the Bible, forgetting isn’t amnesia. When God says He “will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34), He doesn’t mean He’ll be up in heaven going, “I could have sworn they did something, but I just can’t place it.” He means He won’t bring it up. He chooses to let it go. He won’t let it shape how He treats us.

Paul means the same thing. He isn’t saying, “I know I did something terrible back then. Geez, what was that guy’s name?” What Paul refuses to do is let it be the anchor that drags on his life or the rudder that steers it.

Paul has one direction now, regardless of his past: “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12). Christ grabbed Paul first. Paul isn’t pressing forward to earn his way out of the past. He is pressing forward because the grace of God through Jesus Christ has transformed his life.

What you’re carrying

What are you carrying that you need to let go of? What weight feels like a bag of rocks or an anchor you are dragging through life? Be aware that you may have to stop and think about it for a moment because you have been carrying that weight so long that it just feels like normal life to drag it around with you. It doesn’t feel like a weight; it feels like life as it is. But it’s not.

For many of us, that weight is regret we can’t let go of.

It may be a thing we did that we wish we hadn’t. Or it may be something we didn’t do and now can’t go back and do. Foolish decisions that came back to haunt us. Character flaws that keep showing up in our words and our thoughts no matter how often we promise ourselves this is the last time.

If your regrets weigh you down, let me point something out to you. Whatever you did or didn’t do, it almost certainly is not as bad as putting Christians to death and trying to stamp out the name of Jesus.

Now, I know that before God there’s no scale. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). A ten-gallon sin and a one-ounce sin both leave us needing a Savior. But humanly speaking, the big ones weigh heavier, and sometimes the comparison sets us free. Paul thought so too. He wrote, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15–16).

Jesus called Paul after Paul stood by approving the stoning of Stephen. Jesus served bread and wine to Peter knowing that within hours Peter would call down curses on himself rather than admit he knew Him. This is what God is like. He looks at a man with blood on his record and says, “I can use that guy.”

Regret isn’t the only weight we carry around.

For some of us, the bag is full of trophies. The degrees. The accomplishments. The things that make us feel worthy, and if we’re honest, maybe a little more worthy than other people. If you are walking around trying to draw your worth from your accomplishments, Paul knows what that is like, too. That can be just as heavy.

Paul tells us about his past, both good and bad, so he can serve as an example for us. 

Bring the bag to Jesus

So bring it to Jesus, both the guilt and the trophies. Your garbage is welcome. Not because Jesus wants to dig through it, but because He wants you rid of it. He’s already sent it to the cross. It’s done. 

You won’t stop remembering. That’s not how memory works. But you can remember it differently, as something that no longer sets your direction. Your direction is set by grace now.

And one more thing

If God treats us this way, it’s worth asking how we treat each other. Are we keeping someone’s past on file, ready to bring up? Defining them today by what they did years ago? We often just call that holding a grudge, but it wears a lot of disguises.

I’m not saying harm doesn’t need to be dealt with. Forgiveness releases the debt; it doesn’t automatically restore trust. But following Christ does mean we give people what God has given us: room to leave the past behind and press forward.

Paul discovered something we all need to be reminded of. One of the great gifts of God’s grace in Jesus Christ is that the past doesn’t control the future:

“One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14).