already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of
that (perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His
own. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet;
but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what
lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the
upward call of God in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual
perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different
attitude, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us stay true to what
we have already attained." [Philippians 3:12-16, AMP]
Hmmm. Interesting. Did you ever consider yourself on a quest? Do you believe that the prize is worth the effort? Are you actively involved in 'reaching'? What does this mean to you? How do you know?
Perhaps we need to stop and back up first. Do you believe you are the Lord's own? Do you belong to Him? One 'proof' that we are is in the last part of verse 16: stay true to what we have already attained. Partially this is evidence to those around us and partially to the devil, but mostly for ourselves. In our journey we'd learned, we've grown but are we staying true? Part of staying true, in my opinion, is growing in understanding and demonstration of what we've learned. Then again, I don't believe any spiritual matter is a one and done, that there are always layers, plateaus, etc. I find it hard to believe that we ever hit the 'got it all together' stage.
The forgetting of yesterdays, again my opinion, is not the lessons but the pains and hurts from others... that we can put a done and dusted to. When we continue to carry those pieces of baggage, all we're doing is harming ourselves and never forget that if we don't forgive how can we expect to be forgiven? Forgetting is really an interesting aspect, component, use whatever word fits for you... but it is rarely easy, however... we never would be asked to do something we can't do.
As you can surmise... the prize includes doings and don'tings (yes I know that's not a word, but it does capture the thought - yes?). Example: if we don't do the forgetting how can we reach forward? Also, isn't the 'prize' worth the effort? Isn't becoming more mature, more Christlike, the upward call worth everything we can do to attain it? And the alternative? Are you willing to pay the price to throw away your quest? The behavior that demonstrates you aren't on a quest are: give up, yield, surrender (MWebster dictionary). Personally, the word 'surrender' has all sorts of negativity associated with it, not the least of which is disrespect. And I definitely don't want to be so described.
The other component that can trip us up is comparing. Never, never, never compare your journey, how you grow with someone else. They too may be on the same quest as you - to attain the prize - but it isn't a contest to see who gets there first - this is a prize for all of us. So, if you can help someone else along the way... that's a positive. Comparing is always so exhausting and I tend to believe that there are many paths to the prize. Perhaps fanciful. But I believe that the Lord leads each of us according to HOW we grow and mature and WHEN we reach one plateau and are ready to continue the journey.
One lesson that I've learned is that the Lord considers us individually... He doesn't treat us as a group. I do believe there is only one way which is Jesus and making Him our Lord but after that it's individual. What's available for us is the same but how we accept and utilize the gifts is individual. Our experiences make us unique and different even when we all are experiencing the same thing. God does not show partiality so He would never give to one something that He wouldn't give to another. We may do that... He doesn't.
Therefore... the prize IS the same for all. How we get there... now that's individual.
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