Pressing On Towards the Prize

What you are must always displease you, if you would attain to that which you are not. —St. Augustine

No matter what you do, there’s room to grow at it. A certain amount of dissatisfaction with your abilities, achievements and accomplishments is a healthy thing. Those who are entirely satisfied won’t ever reach their full potential. If anyone could have rested on his spiritual laurels it was the apostle Paul. Yet, he confessed, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12). There’s always room to improve. There’s also more to consider. Every human body at rest atrophies. In other words, when you stop “pressing on” you inevitably slip or regress. This isn’t a mystery. We’ve all experienced it. If you’ve forgotten, stop exercising for a month and then climb back on a treadmill. You’ll be able to measure atrophy by your huffing and puffing! This is true of our physical bodies, it is true of our spiritual lives, it is true of our talents and abilities—when they’re not exercised, they cease growing and start to atrophy. The key to moving ahead is to keep your eye on the goal. Paul explained, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on” (Philippians 3:12-14). If your eye is not on the goal, you’re like the captain of a ship with no course. But by focusing on what is ahead you’ve got a compass, and you can depend on God’s grace to provide wind for your sails. —DH