This week, I have been in Northern Ireland visiting our church and family. What caught my eye was a plaque on the wall of my son’s home which says, ‘Remember the future’. It is a quote from Gregory of Nyssa, an early church theologian, c. AD 335-394.
So many people’s lives are shaped by their past: hurts that have not healed, failures that still dominate, and insecurities and fears that cause anxiety. As a result, burdens are carried that are too heavy to bear.
To remember the future means living today in the light of God’s promised tomorrow. Rather than being trapped by our past, we anchor our identity in Christ, becoming more like him, as he lives in us. Hope isn’t just anticipation of the future, but it shapes our present. When we remember God’s future – resurrection, restoration, fullness of life – our courage rises, and we can love and forgive more readily, and persevere longer, because the end of the story is already held in God.
As the Apostle Paul wrote, ‘…one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 3:13-14 NIVUK). As we follow this example, we are freed from regret about yesterday and anxiety about tomorrow, while hope reshapes how we live today by God’s promises.
In Christian love,
Barry Robinson
About the Writer:
Barry Robinson is the Deputy National Ministry Leader for GCI in the UK and Ireland.