Joy in Perseverance
“Not
that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make
it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not
consider that I have made it my own. But 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 upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14,
English Standard Version)
What makes a
person successful? Generally speaking,
what makes a person successful is a continual desire for improvement and a
disregard for past successes or failures.
This applies in any area of human endeavor. For example, athletes succeed in their given
sport because they refuse to believe they have no room for improvement and
because they refuse to rest in past successes or wallow in past failures. Once a person believes there can be no
further improvement, there will be no growth.
This applies to
the Christian life as well. The Apostle
Paul liked to use athletic analogies to demonstrate spiritual truth. In today’s passage from the book of
Philippians, Paul uses the analogy of a runner running a race to express a
vital spiritual truth: The Christian life is a continual process of
spiritual growth. Successful
Christian living involves three principles that are detailed in this
passage: 1) Dissatisfaction with present
achievement; 2) forward-looking focus; and 3) perseverance.
Dissatisfaction with present achievement. Look at what Paul says in the first part of
today’s passage: “Not that I have already obtained
this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ
Jesus has made me his own.” Paul
never considered his spiritual achievements as proof of anything. He never rested in his laurels. Paul was an exemplary Christian—probably the
best of Christians—yet he was never satisfied.
In Paul’s mind, there was always room for improvement. This is a vital lesson for many Christians. Churches across
Forward-looking focus.
The second principle for successful Christian living is a
forward-looking focus. Consider the next
verse in today’s passage: “But
one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies
ahead.” One of the most
debilitating attitudes to the Christian life is living in the past; whether
past successes or past failures. Basking
in the faded glory of past successes retards growth and produces spiritual
lethargy. Whereas dwelling on past
failures produces timidity and fear.
Paul did neither; he was always “straining forward to what lies
ahead.” This does not mean we don’t have
to deal with the past. If we sin and
stumble in our Christian walk, we just don’t ignore the sin and move on. We have to confess our sin to God and
reconcile ourselves to whomever we offended.
Once we take care of that, then we am free to continue forward; assured
of God’s forgiveness.
Perseverance: The
third principle from this passage is perseverance. Paul writes, “I press on toward the goal for
the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Consider again Paul’s running analogy. A long-distance runner has to overcome many
obstacles in order to finish the race.
Oftentimes the biggest obstacles are mental. “The race seems so long,” “I can’t keep
going,” “I am exhausted!” When these
walls come up, the hardest thing to do is to keep putting one foot in front of
the other. There are many obstacles in
the Christian life: Persecution;
temptation; stress; other people; fatigue; our fleshly sin nature; etc. All these things sap the energy from us and
make the Christian life extremely difficult.
Thankfully, God grants the Christian perseverance: “Now to him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with
great joy” (Jude 24).
How are you doing in your Christian life? Do you think your spiritual life is OK as it stands? Are you still living in the successes or failures of yesterday? Have you stopped pressing on toward the goal of the Christian life which is Christ-likeness? If you answer “yes” to all three questions, then one of two things is true: 1) Either you’re not a Christian because these things don’t matter to you; or 2) your Christian life is stuck in neutral (or worse, reverse). As Paul wrote the Corinthian believers, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5).