As a follower of Christ, you mustn't get bogged down by specious ecclesiastical demands. If you rely on obedience to organized religion's tangled web of theological tenets, you will be 'running in place' when it comes to your faith. They come across as vitally important to one's relationship with God, yet these presuppositions stagnate spiritual growth because they only deal with your past.
Instead of steadily moving forward on your journey of faith, you end up looking like a juggler desperately trying to keep it together. Every 'ball' requires equal attention and if one falls to the ground ... frustration, guilt, and shame ensue.
Paul challenges us to focus on one thing only; that which is ahead for those who love the Lord ... Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)
Don't dwell on past relationships, hurtful memories, failures, temptations, or anything else that might keep you from being 'single-minded'. Your focus should be on the sufficiency of Jesus Christ in all things.
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1)
We are to strain with every fiber of our being to keep moving forward. Your body tends to go toward the place where you fix your eyes. A runner who keeps turning back to see what is behind him will stumble and ultimately lose the race.
Christianity is not as complicated as 'religion' makes it. Abide in Christ, grow in grace, and focus on that one thing ...
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