Pursuing the Mind of Christ Exemplo

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Surely, you have heard that Christians are called to represent Christ. It is true, but what are we supposed to do with our lack of perfection? Christ was perfect, but we are not, and we can’t be perfect because of our flesh. How, then, are we going to represent Him? 

In Philippians 3:12–16, Paul introduces us to three key building blocks, but there are two foundations we need to understand first: 

Foundation #1 - Our position in Christ. We have been sanctified through the offering of Christ’s body (Hebrews 10:10).

Foundation #2 - Our condition in Christ. Sanctified believers have been perfected forever in Christ and are being perfected in their human condition (Hebrews 10:14).

Once we have these two foundations in place, we need to lay the first building block, which can be found in Philippians 3:12:

Press on – By pressing on, Paul talks about the continuous pursuit of one’s supreme calling: Christlikeness. May we persevere because we haven’t gotten there yet. To do this, we must always be learning from God and our fellow Christians, forgetting what is behind and focusing on what is ahead. Don’t dismiss your shortcomings; acknowledge them, learn from them, but don’t let them stand in the way of reaching forward.

The second building block is found in Philippians 3:14:

Press Towards the Goal; Focus on the finish line because there will be a prize at the end of the race. That prize is to enter our Master’s joy and presence. What we do today matters for Heaven. Work hard for the Kingdom so that you will be given the prize when you finish the race.

And lastly, the third building block is found in Philippians 3:15: 

We Are All in This Together: Let us strive for Christlikeness together and support one another during the race. True Christian perfection on Earth consists only in striving for it because we will ultimately be fully perfected when we get to His presence. Don’t wait to be perfect because it’s not going to happen on this side of Heaven. Let us continue to press on together, encouraging one another. 

Lord, please help me persevere towards Christlikeness while supporting others who are doing the same. Help me get nearer to the likeness of my dear Lord Jesus and empower me to represent Him better every day.