Leaving Your Baggage Behind

Philippians 3:12-16: Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

We who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior have been assigned a purpose that requires that we are moving forward in progressing toward our spiritual maturity.  As we move on from stage to stage, year after year, we find that goal that God has for us is to finish our journey in this life with Him.  The challenge for us in moving forward with the Lord is knowing when and what luggage in our lives must be left behind or discarded from us.  These things have no positive place in the dominance of our minds or our emotions.

We all have relationships, experiences, and troubles in life that are at times very painful and even damaging to us and we find it difficult move on because of the negative impact that these things have had on us.  They pull us down or weigh us down in our pursuit of God’s will for our lives.  As a result, we live with certain feelings, patterns of thinking and relational conflicts that should not have continuous holds upon our present lives.  They do not relate to the present or the future, but to issues from a previous time in our lives.  Because we never properly dealt with these issues, we tend to carry them with us in some way and they get in the way of present relationships, present choices, opportunities, or our ability to set and stick to our present goals.  The tragedy for some is that this cycle of bondage (negative baggage) that we continue to carry with us does not go away until we choose to deal with it or be finished with it as a part of our lives.

God’s ways are not our ways, but God’s ways will always deliver us when we walk in accordance to His counsel from the Word:

•  Admit that there is luggage from the past and be willing to confess it to be what it is.  If there is past luggage that affects your present, denying it is really a form of lying to yourself and God.  Truthfulness about it breaks any justification as to why we should continue to carry them any further in our lives.
• Confidently receive God’s forgiveness if this luggage is a matter of the pain from our personal failure. Leaving this kind of baggage behind means we are fully convinced by God’s authority that we are totally accepted, forgiven and loved.
• Be willing to forgive others with a surrendered heart that is open to God’s help. Unforgiveness of the past blocks our experience of His will in the present.  Release the past offender and yield your pain to God for His healing and freedom to move on to lay hold to the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
•  Get spiritually mature, godly, and even professional help to heal if you are stuck in deep heart turmoil. Keeping pain from the past active can be self-destructive to our physical and spiritual health and well- being.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, I know you have called me to live as a light in this world to reveal You.  Please help me to break from the painful bondage of my past issues so that I can live in the full energy and freedom to pursue your goals for my life.  I will give You praise and thanks, in Jesus Name, amen.

(by Pastor Cockrell)