“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made [Christs righteousness] my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:13-14

In the life of the Apostle Paul, author of Philippians, “what lies behind” includes overseeing the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:57-58), and “ravaging the church, and entering house after house, [dragging] off men and women and committ[ing] them to prison.” (Acts 8:3) We all have different shameful things in our past, but God forgets them. His purpose is to always make us more like Christ, so we press on and strain to move forward. The prize is worth it.