Satan would like to keep you looking at where you’ve been rather than where you are going. He wants you to focus on your past. All the mistakes you’ve made. All the failures you’ve experienced. All the people who let you down. If he can keep you looking backwards, he’ll slow your progress moving forward.

When you look behind you, it slows you down. 

Ask anyone who is a runner. When you look behind you, it slows you down. 

It’s the same in your spiritual life. God wants you to learn from yesterday, but He doesn’t want you to live in it. The way to pursue your spiritual maturity is through keeping your eyes on where Jesus wants you to go. You are called, as Paul wrote, to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

I like to encourage people to look at yesterday like a rearview mirror, which you would peek into every once in a while. But you should live your life like the way you drive your car. You don’t drive with your eyes fixated on the rearview mirror. You drive looking through the windshield. You focus on where you are going and don’t waste time staring at where you’ve been.

You should live your life like the way you drive your car.

When you live in pursuit of Jesus Christ and His will for your life, you will discover the purpose you are designed to live out. You have a purpose. God has a plan. He is not finished with you yet. But the longer you remain chained to yesterday, the more time you are losing in pursuing God’s plan for your life today. 

So, as they say in the military, “Eyes front!”

Check out more from Dr. Tony Evans @tonyevans.org

About The Author

Dr. Tony Evans

Dr. Tony Evans is one of the country’s most respected leaders in evangelical circles. As a pastor, teacher, author and speaker, he serves the body of Christ through his unique ability to communicate complex theological truths through simple, yet profound, illustrations. While addressing the practical issues of today, Dr. Evans is known as a relevant expositor. New and veteran pastors alike regard him as a pastor of pastors and a father in the faith.


At the heart of this vision is the use of church and school partnerships to effect spiritual and social change in communities. Dr. Evans’ church and school outreach philosophy has been attributed as a catalyst for former President George W. Bush’s Faith Based Initiative, which was his first formal act of office. Dr. Evans seeks to train churches, schools and volunteers in this philosophy, as well as in the functional practicalities, through the National Church Adopt-A-School Initiative which is a ministry underneath the umbrella of The Urban Alternative.


Dr. Evans serves as president of The Urban Alternative, a national ministry that seeks to restore hope and transform lives through the proclamation and the application of the Word of God. His daily radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 850 radio outlets throughout the United States and in more than 80 countries.


Dr. Evans has written numerous books and booklets including his legacy work, Oneness Embraced, as well as his vision work, The Kingdom Agenda. Some of his most recent books includes, Kingdom Man, A Moment For Your Soul, Marriage Matters, and Victory in Spiritual Warfare.



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