09/30/2026
God Pause - Luther Seminary
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Philippians 3:4b-14 (NRSV)
even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Devotion
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about something stupid I did or said in the past. It could have been a week ago, a month ago, or even years ago. I should have said something different. I should have handled a situation more maturely. I should have apologized and asked for forgiveness.
I know rehashing past situations won’t change any of the outcomes that still bother me. I also know that the best thing to do is to move forward and forgive myself, but that’s a difficult thing to do. It’s encouraging to me that even Paul needed to remind himself to do the same. In Philippians 3 he says that “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Not only do we need to forgive ourselves for our past shortcomings, we need to refocus on the future we have in and with Jesus Christ.
Prayer
God, I so appreciate your unconditional love and forgiveness, no matter how lacking I find myself. Thank you for always being there, waiting for me with open arms. Amen.
Bethany Kurschner ’92 M.A.
Elementary Librarian, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
