Chasing Perfection
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess the perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” - Philippians 3:12-14
Are you chasing perfection? If you are a follower of Christ, you should be. While God does love to give you the desires of your heart, that is not His ultimate purpose. God is not just a genie that waits around for your requests. Instead, God’s ultimate purpose is to mold you into the image of His Son, Jesus.
Jesus, as we know, was perfect. He was both fully God and fully human. He was tempted as a human, yet He never sinned. He did not give in to those temptations. He did everything God asked Him to do. Jesus was perfect. And that is the standard we should be striving for.
Paul put it this way in Philippians 3:12-14, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess the perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
The reality is, none of us are perfect. We never will be. But that does not mean we should not continue to strive to be. Have you set a goal, only to get discouraged early on because you realized it was unattainable? That can be pretty disheartening. And for many people, it means they just give up altogether.
But let me encourage you to not give up! Do not stop pursuing perfection. It is God’s ultimate will for our lives to become like Jesus. He wants us to chase perfection. Though we cannot attain it, we should still strive to pursue it, just as Paul did! And in doing so, we will become more like Christ!
Are you chasing perfection? If you are a follower of Christ, you should be. While God does love to give you the desires of your heart, that is not His ultimate purpose. God is not just a genie that waits around for your requests. Instead, God’s ultimate purpose is to mold you into the image of His Son, Jesus.
Jesus, as we know, was perfect. He was both fully God and fully human. He was tempted as a human, yet He never sinned. He did not give in to those temptations. He did everything God asked Him to do. Jesus was perfect. And that is the standard we should be striving for.
Paul put it this way in Philippians 3:12-14, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess the perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
The reality is, none of us are perfect. We never will be. But that does not mean we should not continue to strive to be. Have you set a goal, only to get discouraged early on because you realized it was unattainable? That can be pretty disheartening. And for many people, it means they just give up altogether.
But let me encourage you to not give up! Do not stop pursuing perfection. It is God’s ultimate will for our lives to become like Jesus. He wants us to chase perfection. Though we cannot attain it, we should still strive to pursue it, just as Paul did! And in doing so, we will become more like Christ!
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