Philippians 3:12-21

Its way to easy to read these verses and agree with Paul and then move on. But if we agree with Paul we must take action.

Goals are things we talk about and set in our lives constantly. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we set them for ourselves because we don’t think of them as goals; like what time we hope to get somewhere, how much we want to get done in a day, or what grade we hope to make on a test. Each goal that we set for ourselves is instrumental in driving what we do each day and motivating our actions. However, a goal can only be effective if it has all of the needed elements to create action:
1.You must know what your goal is.
2.If it is a broad goal, you need more specific ones to drive the bigger one.
3.If it is long term, you need shorter term goals to help you remain focused.
4.You need accountability – someone to push you and coach you on.
5.You must have a desire to accomplish the goal.
I'm sure there are other things needed, but these are a few important factors. Let’s look at an example:

Let’s say that I wanted to finish cleaning the pool by the end of the day. I start of by knowing my goal. It could be a small enough goal to leave it at that, but for the sake of the above I’ll need to have smaller and more specific goals: I plan to have the deep end finished before lunch and the shallow end finished before 2:00. I know that my boss is expecting for me to have it cleaned and if I don’t there is a penalty – so that acts as my accountability, and can act as a motivating force for my desire to accomplish the goal. Further, I know there is a storm coming in and I don’t want to work in the rain so I really want to get it finished today.This example has all of the elements listed above, which leads me to action.

So why am I telling you all of this? Because we can look at these verses, say that we agree with Paul – we need to push on and take hold of this. But with goals like this one, it is so easy to lose focus. First of all what is the goal? Paul says, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” He also uses a few pronouns to refer to the goal like “it” or “this”, but he never actually states the goal in these verses. So what is it that we are so fervently pressing on towards and seeking after; what is the goal? This might be a good time for you to think about that – re-read these verses and see if you can decide for yourself – otherwise you can move on.

I believe that the answer can be found in the verses just above the ones we are studying this week: our goal is to know and gain Christ and to have righteousness from faith in Him. Wow, that’s a big goal. How do we get there? What can we do to reach this goal? I think we all know the small answers to these questions, but in order to reach our main goal; we need to have very specific ways in mind that can lead us there. We also can easily forget what the main goal is because the outcome is only reached in the distant future. We need to have short term goals set up along the way to keep us on track. Do you have these set up in your life? Most of us know the main goal, and we know how to reach it, but we don’t set up the small goals that keep us moving in the right direction.

Further we need a coach; someone who can guide us and lead us to our goal. Do you have someone like this in your life? A pastor is a great example, but do you have a close peer or friend that is willing to ask you the tough questions?

Lastly we need a desire. In Paul's life it was clear that he was willing to give up everything to accomplish his goal. He said that everything else was worthless compared to just knowing Christ. I doubt that many people feel as strongly as he did, but our motivation can only increase with our faith. If we believe, God will encourage us, and with that encouragement we will grow and desire more. As we press on toward the goal of knowing Christ more, we must remain focused and motivated by His love.

-- Seth Gordon, Recreation Director