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. – Philippians 3:12
Have you ever felt discouraged because you are still struggling with things you thought you would have overcome by now? Paul gives us a different way to look at that struggle. He does not pretend to have arrived. Instead, he keeps moving forward because he knows that Christ has already taken hold of him.
What does Paul mean when he says he has not been made perfect?
There is something wonderfully honest about Paul’s words. He is an apostle, a mature believer, and someone who has given his life to following Jesus, yet he openly admits that he has not arrived.
That matters because we can sometimes imagine that spiritual maturity means reaching a place where temptation no longer bothers us, doubt never enters our minds, and obedience becomes easy. But Paul does not describe his life that way. He is still pressing on.
Christian growth is not about pretending we have become everything we ought to be. It is about continuing to follow Jesus when we become aware of how far we still have to go. There is humility in admitting that we are unfinished.
Why does Paul keep pressing on?
Paul’s motivation is not fear that Christ will abandon him if he fails to make enough progress. The order of his words is important. He presses on because Christ Jesus has already taken hold of him.
That changes the way we think about our own failures. We do not follow Jesus in order to convince Him to love us. We follow Him because He has already reached for us. We are not trying to earn a place in His family. We are learning to live as people who already belong to Him.
There will still be days when the old desires seem stronger than they should. There may be sins we thought were behind us that somehow return. We may look at our spiritual lives and wonder why we are not further along.
But the answer is not to give up.
The shepherd does not stop caring for the sheep because they are still learning to follow his voice. In the same way, our unfinished growth does not mean that God’s work in us has failed.
How can we keep moving forward when we feel spiritually weak?
Sometimes pressing on looks much less dramatic than we expect. It may mean praying again after a season of neglect. It may mean confessing the same weakness instead of hiding it. It may mean choosing forgiveness when resentment feels easier, or trusting God with a future we cannot control.
We may not feel like we are making much progress, but faithfulness is not measured only by how far we think we have traveled. Paul keeps his attention on the One who called him forward. So perhaps the question is not, “Why am I still struggling with this?” but, “Where is Jesus asking me to press on today?”
You are not finished. Neither am I. But that is not a reason for despair. Christ has already taken hold of you, and that gives you reason to keep going.There is grace for the distance still ahead. Keep following. Keep trusting. Keep pressing on.
Take heart from Philippians 3:12 and consider what it means to keep following Jesus even when you know you have not arrived.