Someone once said that there is a reason the rear view mirror is so small and the windshield is so large. We need to spend more time looking toward the future and less time dwelling on the past. True, we can learn from past mistakes, and we can take joy from wonderful memories of days gone by. But we are far too easily distracted and discouraged by past sins, failures and disappointments. We are much better off when we put the past behind us and look ahead to the future.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and staining 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.