Moving Forward in Faith: Leaving the Past Behind and Pressing On

As we stand at the threshold of a new year, many of us feel that familiar mix of exhaustion from the year behind and cautious optimism for what lies ahead. This week between Christmas and New Year’s has a way of throwing us off balance – our schedules disrupted, our routines upended, and our sense of time confused.

Why New Year’s Resolutions Often Fail

Every January, we make lists of changes we want to see in our lives. We promise ourselves we’ll eat better, exercise more, read our Bibles faithfully, and break bad habits. But somewhere between January 2nd and the end of February, most of us quietly renegotiate these deals we made with ourselves.

The problem isn’t that we lack good intentions – it’s that resolutions built on willpower alone have limits. Willpower runs out of fuel when life starts pressing in and our daily routines get disrupted. If this describes your experience with New Year’s resolutions, you’re not broken – you’re normal.

The Gospel Offers Something Better Than Broken Resolutions

Scripture offers us something much deeper and more life-changing than willpower-driven resolutions. The Gospel declares that in Christ, we become new creations. The change we long for every January 1st has already begun in the life of every believer.

Our Past No Longer Has the Final Word

In 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Paul reminds us of a transformative truth: “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone and the new life has begun.” When Paul wrote these words, he wasn’t speaking as someone with a clean past. Paul had been a murderer who actively persecuted Christians. He held coats while Stephen was stoned to death.

Yet Paul understood that God’s power is greater than our past. The blood shed on the cross has the power to eradicate our history of sin and failure. When we accept Christ, we are reconciled with God – not as a work in progress, but as a completed transaction. Our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, and God will not count past sin against us.

This forgiveness is complete, as Psalm 103:12 declares: “He has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west.” There’s no measuring stick long enough to calculate that distance – it’s infinite, meaning our sins are completely erased.

Don’t Let Your Past Define Your Future

Many believers struggle with accepting God’s complete forgiveness. They say, “I can’t forgive myself” or “God cannot possibly forgive what I did.” This reveals a low opinion of God’s power and grace. The God we serve is bigger than any sin because He is the Creator of the universe.

When God forgives, there’s no hidden fine print or escape clause. Christ took our sin fully on the cross, and in exchange, we receive His righteousness. From that settled relationship, we become ambassadors for Christ, living based on what God has already done rather than on our past failures.

God Is Shaping Our Present

Life in a Fallen World Still Hurts

Romans 8:18-23 doesn’t pretend that Christians don’t suffer. Paul acknowledges that in this life, we will face difficulties. We live in a fallen, cursed world where death, decay, and suffering are realities. Even when we’re doing everything right, life can still hurt.

Paul uses the word “groaning” to describe our experience – that guttural sound we make when we’re hurting. All creation groans, non-believers groan, and even believers groan. This is the honest state of our cursed world.

The Holy Spirit Helps in Our Weakness

But Paul doesn’t leave us without hope. In Romans 8:26-27, he reveals that “the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.” There are times when life is so difficult that we don’t even know what to pray for. In those moments, the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

God has not left you alone to figure out life by yourself. If you’ve accepted Christ, the Holy Spirit resides in you, interceding for you and giving you the words to pray when you don’t know what to say.

God Works All Things Together for Good

Romans 8:28 is often misused, but its true meaning is profound: “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” This doesn’t mean everything that happens to you will be good. Rather, God is sovereign and active, weaving even the hard things, difficult circumstances, and our mistakes into His perfect plan.

The “good” here isn’t material prosperity or earthly comfort. It’s an eternal, God-kind of good – being shaped into the image of Christ. God uses all circumstances in our lives to transform us, building endurance, refining our faith, strengthening our obedience, and producing Christ-likeness.

We Must Press Forward Together

Paul’s Example of Pressing On

In Philippians 3:12-14, Paul – the man who wrote half the New Testament and planted churches across the known world – admits he hasn’t arrived: “I don’t mean to say that I’ve already achieved these things or that I’ve already reached perfection, but I press on.”

If Paul could honestly say he was still a work in progress, so can we. None of us have reached where God wants us to be. Paul refused to let his past define him or steer his future. Instead, he pressed on like a marathon runner, straining forward toward the goal.

Our Citizenship Is in Heaven

Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:20 that “we are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.” This world is not our final home – we are ambassadors sent into a foreign land to represent Christ. Because our future is secure and we belong to Christ, how we live here deeply matters.

Peter echoes this truth in 1 Peter 1:13-22, calling us to “prepare your minds for action” and “live as God’s obedient children.” We must be holy in everything we do, love our brothers and sisters deeply, and not slip back into old ways of living.

Life Application

As we enter 2026, the challenge is clear: Will you press on in obedience to Christ? Instead of making resolutions based on willpower alone, commit to walking closely with God and allowing Him to shape you into His image.

This week, take time to:

• Surrender your past completely to God, accepting His full forgiveness
• Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and pray for you in areas where you feel weak
• Identify one specific way you can “press on” in your faith journey this year
• Consider how God might be calling you to serve in your local church or community

Questions for Reflection:

1. What aspects of your past are you still allowing to define you instead of resting in God’s complete forgiveness?
2. In what areas of your life do you need to trust that God is working all things together for your good, even when you can’t see how?
3. How is God calling you to “press on” this year rather than remaining spiritually stagnant?
4. What specific step of obedience is God asking you to take as you move into this new year?

The greatest way to start 2026 is not with a list of self-improvement goals, but by calling on the name of Jesus and allowing Him to continue the good work He has already begun in you. Your past does not have to define you, and your future is secure in Christ.