Driven Toward Christ
By Emily Rose Massey
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14 ESV
I have always considered myself a goal-oriented person. When asked to describe myself during job interviews, I often used words like passionate, driven, hard-working, and loyal. Many times in my life, I intensely kept my “eye on the prize,” ran hard after what I wanted and achieved my goals. Tragically, this tenacity of running after my goals would distract me from the most important prize, Jesus Christ. The Spirit would convict me, and I would ask the Lord to help me rightly prioritize my time and focus. It’s beautiful to be driven and hard-working, but it is all in vain if your first passion is not your drive toward growing in your relationship with Christ. The stronger you develop your nearness to the Lord, the more you will become like Him. We must remember the most important race in this life is for the Kingdom of God, for the glory of Christ’s name, not ours. We must remain motivated by the glory of God.
What motivates your drive toward Christ? For the Apostle Paul, it was the prize of the upward call of God: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14, ESV).
Intersecting Faith and Life:
What excites you and drives your passion? Being made in the image of God means we all have passion. The important question we must ask ourselves is: is my passion directed inward, or does it fuel me to pursue Christ and His purposes? Our drive and passion for the Lord and His Kingdom are related to our devotion to Him, revealing our purpose of knowing Christ and serving Christ. Reading and studying the scriptures should fuel our passion because it sets our eyes upon the Lord and helps us take our eyes off ourselves.
We can remind our hearts if we are born again; Christ purchased our life for a purpose and has made us His own. He did this so we would bear fruit for His glory. Christ reached down and rescued me, so I should always be reaching for Christ. We press on to make knowing Christ relationally and serving Him faithfully, and we must press on even more when we feel weak. We can look to Christ and ask for strength to keep going, and He will be faithful to give us His abundant grace. We shouldn’t be entangled by our past sins, sorrows, or even successes, as those things will distract us and hold us back from pressing on in our race to pursue Christ and His purpose. May the Lord give us zeal, an increased pace, and an increased engagement in Kingdom pursuits as we press toward the prize. Ultimately, Christlikeness is our prize. Let us seek the Lord and ask Him to increase our passion to become more like Him!
Further Reading:
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