Memory Verse for March 14-20 - Philippians 3:12

February 21 - Philippians 3:12 - Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

You have probably met people who think they have “arrived” or are “perfect”. We picture a person like this saying, “I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.” Such people annoy us, but let’s make sure that we do not act the same way they do, thinking that we have arrived or are perfect spiritually.

The Apostle Paul was a very humble man. He realized that although God had done a great work in him (1 Timothy 1:15-16), he still wasn’t perfect. You might think that Paul would have been satisfied with what he had already achieved spiritually, but that wasn’t so. Paul knew that he wasn’t perfect yet.

Paul kept moving forward spiritually, not satisfied with what he had already accomplished. He did this so he could “…apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” As we have seen in Romans 8:29 and 1 John 3:2-3, Paul was apprehended or saved for the purpose of being Christ-like when he saw Jesus face to face. Paul kept striving to be more Christ-like each day.

Like Paul, let’s realize that we haven’t “arrived” yet. Let’s follow his example by striving to be more Christ-like until we really do arrive.