Philippians 3:13-14 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.
Paul is giving believers real-life wisdom here, the kind that is freeing if we actually take it seriously. This is a man who had suffered deeply, been misunderstood, beaten, imprisoned, and rejected, and yet he speaks with clarity about how to live without becoming crushed by life. He says he has not arrived, but he refuses to live facing backwards. Instead, he chooses to keep moving forward. That matters because life becomes a drudge for the believer when we forget there is a prize and an upward calling, when we lose sight of why we are still here at all. It is possible to belong to the kingdom of God and yet slowly begin to think and live like those who do not know Him, weighed down by the past, limited by disappointment, shrinking life to survival rather than hope. Paul reminds us that we are running toward something, not stuck in something. The upward call of God in Christ Jesus is God drawing us toward Christ Himself, toward a life that still carries purpose and direction. Scripture even warns us about the dangers of living in the past. Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62), because a backward gaze always carries the pull to return there. This verse challenges both the wounded heart and the comfortable heart. Some of us need to release pain, others need to release the habit of living off former seasons, even when those seasons were good. We are reminded that we do not have to live like people with no hope, and that this wisdom comes from a man who, after everything he endured, could easily have done exactly that. Instead, he points us forward into Christ, who is Life and still offers fullness of life.
Gina Elmes
Breakfast of Champions
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