MOVING FORWARD

Becoming like Jesus is difficult enough without saying, “I have to try harder!”   It sucks us into a cycle of “I must do better,” “I ought to pray more,” and “I should be spiritually more mature by now.” And all of these are precursors to feeling defeated, pushing us further into a cycle of trying harder to measure up to God’s standards and the feeling miserable when we "don't measure up."  Then there are those who "encourage" us us saying "well you should feel bad!"  The problem is that all of these things and statements focus on ourselves and not God.  We either become self judgmental or we feel like we're being judged by others and then serving the Lord becomes a drudgery. Even Paul comments on this about beating ourselves up over the inability to do the things we ought to do (Romans 7:16–25).

While it is wise to know our limitations and temptations, God wants us focused on the things He can do through us.  Paul encouraged the Philippian brethren, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Php 1:6"  Again in Ph'p.4:13 "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."  We’re to push toward the ideal, but these standards were never meant as imperative “ought-to” statements demanding immediate perfection from us. Perhaps more than any one of us, Paul understands our desperate need for God’s grace, because attaining perfection, completion in something takes time.

The Star Wars character Yoda states, "do or do not - there is no try." Good advice. But it is also said, "Better to have tried and failed, than to never have tried at all." It is often experience and what we learn from that experience that fortifies us to do better the next time.  Our objective is to make every effort to mature into believers who think and act just like Jesus. We may slip, we may even fail horribly, but we press on regardless - to take hold of the abundant life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Philippians 3:12). When we fail, we confess it (1 Jn.1:9), and we set about to improve so as to do better the next time.  A quote from Tony Evans says it best, "If Satan can keep you looking back, he can keep you from moving forward. It's a new day. Press on!"

Jim