{"id":870,"date":"2019-02-08T06:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T06:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=870"},"modified":"2019-02-02T00:25:07","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T00:25:07","slug":"life-motto-helped-apostle-paul-fail-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/02\/life-motto-helped-apostle-paul-fail-forward.html","title":{"rendered":"The Life Motto That Helped the Apostle Paul Fail Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash-logoMiguel
Miguel Bruna<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom<\/a>. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus!<\/em><\/p>\n

STEP NINE: day 5<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Fail forward<\/strong>\u00a0and keep pressing on<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Outside of Jesus, the Apostle Paul by far has had the greatest impact and influence on Christianity. But that\u2019s not because he lived a perfect, sin-free life. When you look at Paul\u2019s life you\u2019ll see that he struggled just like any other human. His success lay in the fact that he learned to fail forward. In fact, the seven keys to failing forward (day 4) all come from Paul\u2019s letters in the first century as he processed and taught early believers how to fail forward. Perhaps the best encapsulation of this idea is in the phrase \u201cpress on,\u201d which Paul writes to the church in Philippi:<\/span><\/p>\n

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind\u00a0and straining toward what is ahead,\u00a0I press on toward the goal to win the prize\u00a0for which God has called\u00a0me heavenward in Christ Jesus. <\/i>Philippians 3:13-14<\/span><\/p>\n

In Paul\u2019s life and ministry we see a resilience and a relentlessness that we need to embody if we want to be free and stay free. The gravitational pull of your sinful nature is always towards bondage. You don\u2019t have to do anything to stay in bondage. Bondage is the easy choice. Freedom is the hard choice. Freedom takes resilience. Freedom takes repentance. Freedom takes relentlessness. How much is your freedom worth to you? Are you willing to do the hard work of pressing on until you reach the freedom God has for you? You don\u2019t have to do it alone! You have the hope of Jesus (step one), the presence of the Spirit (step two) and the love of the Father (step three) empowering you every step of the way. Press on!<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. By simply reading this sentence, you have displayed your resilience to press on. You\u2019re on week nine! Spend a moment and thank God for giving you the strength need to keep pressing on.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Who is someone in your life that is faltering in their freedom that you can encourage and empower to keep pressing on?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You can read other devotional entries\u00a0for 10 Steps to Freedom\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus! STEP NINE: day 5\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Fail forward\u00a0and keep pressing on Outside of Jesus, the Apostle Paul by far has had the greatest impact and influence on Christianity. But that\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[378,377,318,156],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-steps-to-freedom","tag-fail","tag-forward","tag-freedom","tag-paul"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Life Motto That Helped the Apostle Paul Fail Forward - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Paul overcame incredible failure in his life to change the world. 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