Reaching For the Future
Philippians 3:12-16 Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living that same standard to which we have attained.
Components of a “Reaching for the Future” Attitude
I haven’t arrived yet
- A perfect attitude doesn’t think it’s perfect: it realizes “I have a lot to learn”
- A clear understanding that we have no obtained or arrived will keep us teachable
- You have yet to develop the attitude that will take you to the next level
- A teachable attitude doesn’t mean you don’t know anything, it just means you don’t know everything
I will constantly press on
- Perseverance is a powerful thing: “I will not quit, I will not give up, I will keep going”
- It’s the continual getting back up again that will cause you to succeed in any arena of life
- Proverbs 24:16 “For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again.”
- One of the differences between excellence and mediocrity is pressing on
I will forget the past
- You cannot walk into your future carrying all the baggage of the past
- Leave the past offenses, hurts, mistakes behind; get up and get moving again
- Even what worked in the past will not work in the future
I will reach forward to what lies ahead
- Without a vision, people perish
- A perfect attitude is reaching, growing, expanding, increasing
- When you lose something to reach for, you’ve lost something very important
- Let dreams of the future rule you, rather than nightmares of the past
- In the reaching, you are becoming
I will recognize and cooperate with God’s call on my life
- “I am destined by God – created and gifted to fulfill a purpose”
- Too many people are just getting up and going to work every day but don’t know where they’re headed
- A life of vision and purpose enabled by a sense of destiny recognizes the God factor
- Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
- The discovery and development of God’s call is the path of growth in life
Discussion Questions
- How are you being challenged to leave the past behind and look ahead to the future?
- Why is discovering and understanding the call of God on your life so important?