Looking Forward to What Lies Ahead
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
Philippians 3:12-14
____________________________
In the very first week of 2026, God spoke to me through these verses in Philippians. 2026: the year of looking forward to what lies ahead, and not dwelling in the past.
Over the past 5 years, I have tried to write out my life story to share the incredible riches of God’s grace and His ability to redeem all things. Time and time again, I wrote and rewrote all of my past struggles, sins, and traumas and all of the ways God set me free from those things. My goal was to publish a book before our daughter makes her arrival, but at the start of this year something big shifted in my heart and mind.
I’ve spent way too much time dwelling on the past, which has caused me to hold on to some of my old habits of worry and fear. This year, I feel the freedom to let go of it all and truly walk in the NEW life God has given me.
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
2 Corinthians 5:17
God has not only given us promises, but also commands to live by, that will lead us into His peace. I am so grateful that He has shown me that it is time for me to move on from a mindset of constantly “enduring” and shift to a mindset of ENJOYING.
In Philippians, God has told us exactly what we are to focus our thoughts on:
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9
In a world full of negativity, we will be constantly tempted to fix our thoughts on negative stories on the internet/news, gossip we heard down the street, our past hurts and sins, and our daily shortcomings.
But God has given us the ability to CHOOSE what we fix our thoughts on. He has given us Himself, an eternal hope to look forward to, as well as so much to enjoy in this life.
This reality remains— if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you are a new creation. Your past does not define you, your job does not define you, your relationship status does not define you, your parents do not define you, your political status does not define you. You have a new, God-given identity to live freely in!
And if you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, you do not yet know the reality of who God created you to be— His child, forgiven and set free. He desires for all to be reconciled to Him as He welcomes us into His loving arms as His children.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1
Growing up, I struggled to believe I was loved. I believed I was unwanted, never going to be “enough”, not pretty enough, not valuable enough, not fun enough, the list goes on and on.
So when I became a Christian, I created Identity in Christ scripture memory decks to rewrite the lies I believed about myself. Lifelong lies began to be replaced with the TRUTH of who God says I am, and I began to walk in a confidence I had never known. The only way to be set free is to know the Truth, and to walk in freedom is to continually fix your thoughts on what is true and lovely as Philippians 4 says.
Admittedly, through moving states and the business of life, I stopped meditating on these truths, and the world began to define me again. My confidence and joy slipped away as I began dwelling on my shortcomings and began worrying about whether or not I was a “holy enough Christian”— but one morning last week I picked up my scripture deck and this truth from scripture rewrote that lie.
“And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Hebrews 10:10
I am not holy by my actions, I am holy by the blood of Christ. HE has made me holy, once for all. And that truth frees me to live in holiness, instead of working towards holiness.
When we dwell on things that are true and lovely and worthy of praise, peace and freedom begin growing in our hearts. When we dwell on past hurts, our sins, or lies, our joy is stolen and we live in constant worry and fear.
Let’s let 2026 be the year of forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. Let’s look to God to define us, not our past. Let’s look at what God is doing, not what the enemy is doing. Let’s fix our thoughts on what is true and lovely and live in freedom and JOY. I truly believe what we need as a society, is to look forward and to let go of the past.
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””
John 8:32
My scripture decks are still available for purchase through this link:
https://www.littlehouseofredemption.com/shop/p/identity-in-christ-deck
I pray they bless you and free you to be who God has already made you to be, through Jesus’ finished work 🤍
