Philippians 3:12-13 Inductive Bible Study: Sacrifice 3/20

Philippians 3:7-11 says, "But what things were gain to me, that I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God through faith: that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Philippians 3:12-14 says, "Not that I have already attained or am already perfected; but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Paul admits that he isn't there. He isn't perfect. These are still things he is working on. But it doesn't matter that he isn't perfect. He still presses on. You don't have to be perfect for God to use you. You just have to be surrendered. So to me this shows me that what he has been telling us in these past few verses is a process. Doing these things is not a one time thing and then you're perfect. No, this is still something that Paul had to work at. But that didn't hold him back because he wanted to grab hold of God and all that he has for Him and what He has for him to do just like God laid hold of Paul. Again, he makes it clear that he isn't there yet. He isn't perfect. But what he is doing is forgetting his past: sin, reputation, whatever could hold him back and tie him down. He is reaching forward to what is ahead: all that God has for him to do here on Earth and then eventually heaven.

It's comforting when I realize that I don't have to be perfect to go to God. I've made dumb decisions and I've felt like, "Well okay you really blew it this time, you definitely can't go to God with that because He doesn't want to hear it." But I'm never going to be perfect. But realizing that brings peace because that means I don't have to strive so hard. When I mess up, I can bring it to God. This life is a process. It's a continual falling down and getting back up. But the key is actually getting back up. Nothing will ever get better if I stay down. I just have to ask God to pick me back up.

So 3:13 is one of the verses that God has been showing to me over and over throughout the past two and a half months. It has really helped me realize that holding onto the past will only weigh me down. When you're running a race, you cannot look back over your shoulder at anything. You just have to focus on what's ahead because if you look behind you,  you could fall or start running in the wrong direction. That's the picture here. I have to forget what's behind me so that I can focus on what is ahead: what God has for me to do here on earth and then eventually the prize of heaven. Pastor Mike Rozell was here this past week and he talked about labels. Everyone has labels. Things that they think define them. Being bullied especially left me with a lot of labels. But because of Christ, none of those labels that I have acquired throughout my life define me. I wear the label of forgiven, free and a child of God. This verse reminds me to forget those labels. All of those things that I have let tell me who I am for so long, I have to forget about them and reach forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Application:
This weekend I am going to make a collage of all the labels that I have been given throughout my life on a piece of paper in black marker but on top of them, I am going to write forgiven in red marker as a remind that those things don't define me anymore and that I have to let go of them and take hold of what Christ has for me.