Philippians 3:13 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.

When we read these verses, we usually think about forgetting the negative events of our past and reaching towards the prize set before us in our futures. These verses don’t specify forgetting negative events only. It says, forgetting the things that are behind. That means bad and good things of our past.

It’s easy for us to understand why we shouldn’t think about the negative events of our past. We’ll open old wounds, we’ll allow sadness to set in, or we’ll harbor unforgiveness in our hearts. Not dwelling on seemingly positive events of our past may be a little harder to understand.

Dwelling on positive events of our past may not allow us to appreciate the present or our potential future. We’ll compare our now to our past and not fully appreciate what God is doing now. We may recall how we or someone else used to be and be disappointed in what we see now. We may fantasize and romanticize our past and doubt we can experience that same level of joy in the future.

Does this mean we can’t think about anything in our past? No. It’s simply telling us to not let the past hinder, cripple, minimize, or distort what God is doing now or what He can do in the future.