Are Christians always happy, good,
wholesome, fulfilled, spiritual, close to Christ, kind and wise? No, of course not. Christians are human and we are sinners. But people of faith can strive to know and
understand Jesus and have a goal of living a Christ-like life.
In these verses, Paul talks about how
his past works and achievements did not lead him to salvation and they did not
make him right with God. I think Paul is
saying this: we should strive for the goal of moving away from the past and
moving toward Christ. We know we’ll
never achieve Christ-like lives, but if we keep our minds and hearts open to
Christ and keep striving for that goal, we’ll continually get closer.
So too is it with our lives in
general. We all have a past we want to
leave behind. Many of us have lived our
life in ways that were not good for us or appealing to God. We want to change and know that change is
hard, but we strive to do it so we can live happier and more fulfilling
lives. This change doesn’t happen
overnight, but is a process with a goal.
Paul’s past accomplishments did not
make him right with God; just as our past mistakes and sins do not make us
wrong with God. When we pursue the goal
of understanding Christ and seek the spiritual prize, we will know joy,
usefulness and peace and have a closer relationship with Christ.
Prayer: God, forgive our selfish
ways. Please help us to not look
backward, but to continually seek our goal of a spirit filled life that is
pleasing to you.
Rod Smith
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