"It matters a great deal who is going to win, but not at all who won"
Forget the past
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining 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 3:13, 14An ability to evaluate past poor performances, learn from them and then forget them and move on is so important. Paul wanted to develop the same attitude, of forgetting what had happened. He is saying, “Don’t be affected by the past – move on. Don’t live in the past, live in the future.”
We all have disappointments and failures in the past. The big question is how do we deal with them? If it is sin, we need to ask for forgiveness and move on. If it was just a bad experience, we need not to dwell on it. We need to look forward not back.
Many times in our sporting career things have not gone as we wanted. We do not perform to the level of our ability. A false start or a no-jump. While we can and need to learn from the experience, we also need to recognize that it is past. There is nothing we can do about it. There is no point in dwelling on it and being depressed by it. We are to forget what has happened and cannot be changed.
In sport, the prize is the next competition. In life the prize is the heavenly calling in Christ. So in sport and life let us strive to forget what is past and strain for what is present and is to come.