Keeping on keeping on

It's not often I'll post one of these two days in a row, but I figured this one has been stewing around in my brain recently too, so why the heck not.

One of my adoptive siblings asked me my opinion on Philippians 3:16 a few nights ago. In order to better give her one, I read the beginning of that section until I hit that verse, and it made me think a lot more.

That section starts in Philippians 3:12, which, until 3:16, reads: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained."

That entire passage is merely five verses long, but it has a handful of different themes throughout it. Paul was writing to believers in the church in Philippi, so he was giving them advice aimed mostly at believers. It applies to my own life when I take a look at the last six months of it, as well as the lives of several people I know.

One of the themes that struck me first was perseverance. Look back at the second half of verse 13 into verse 14: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Basically, Paul was encouraging the believers to ignore the pains and humiliations that they had suffered in their work for Christ. He was saying that despite the things they'd had to give up (family, friends, etc.) they should keep pushing forward with their lives, constantly aiming toward heaven and Christ.

I can easily see how this could have applied to my own life recently, and can quickly apply to other lives around me. This verse basically says no matter the heartbreak we endure, there is always a reason to keep going. It also says we can't dwell on that heartbreak, and that we have to be able to move on with our lives, even if we have to let go of a particular person in the process.

The other theme that I wanted to address in this blog was that of maturing as a human, as well as a Christian. Verse 15 addresses this issue by saying that the mature Christian should go ahead and accept that the pain they will go through needs to be left in the past. A lot of Christians can't seem to do so, and simply think that their lives must stop due to this "tragedy" that they have gone through. Verse 16 continues with this theme, stating that we must "live up to what we have already attained." In other words, don't focus on what God takes away from us, but instead focus on the greater gifts that He has given: our salvation, our brethren in Christ, the assurance of where we will go when we die.

It would be a flat out lie if I said that I was good about moving on from pain in my life. There are several pains that I have experienced that took me a long time to get over, and I know that this may happen again. But I pray that God gives me the strength to keep my head above the water and to focus on him.

So ask yourself this: What's holding you back from focusing on what God has given you? What pain are you focused on that you need to let go? Are you really trying to move on, or are you lingering in self-pity and doubt? I pray that you really are trying, and that God will help you move on.