1.  According to the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:13,14, issues from our past have a way of making there way into our present and become a hindrance to spiritual growth.  Selwyn Hughes calls this a “hidden agenda.”

2.  A “hidden agenda” is “An unresolved issue from the past, a negative experience in your past which is influencing your behavior in the present.” (Hughes)

3.  According to Gordon MacDonald sources of these hidden agendas (what he calls “drivenness”) are:

- unresolved parental conflicts (homes where “well done” is never heard)(Hughes talks about “mottoes” from our past which drive us today.  He gives two examples:  “Big boys don’t cry.” “Measure up.  The better you do, the more we will love you.”)

-an early experience of deprivation or shame

-being raised in an atmosphere of drivenness