Press On

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:12-14

Sometimes in our Christian walk, we get stuck – we stop pressing on. We contend daily with our human hearts and our personal sin natures, as well as the enemy and the world’s distractions. Some of the hinderances to our walk include:

• Sin

Sin can trip us up and cause us to lose our spiritual momentum. Temptation might come suddenly and strongly, or it might pressure us over a long period of time. We all struggle with sin, but our daily goal should be to imitate Christ more and more.

¹³ When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; ¹⁴ but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. – James 1:13-15

When tempted, we must remember that sin takes us out of fellowship with God, which is the opposite of what we are to desire as Christians. This does not mean we are unsaved, but we can’t enjoy fellowship with God while walking in sin.

⁵ This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. – 1 John 1:5-7

As believers in Jesus, we have the privilege of confessing our sins and gaining the Father’s complete and immediate forgiveness. However, we should remember that God disciplines us for our sin, since in His love He wants our spiritual growth and good.

If we are stuck in a cycle of sin, we should ask God for the strength to change and remember that we are the master of our own will.

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. – Hebrews 12:1-3

• Guilt

Another hinderance to our spiritual walk can be the emotion of guilt. Whenever we sin, we truly are guilty according to the Lord.

⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in Your sight;
so You are right in Your verdict
    and justified when You judge. – Psalm 51:4

However, when we confess our sins, we are assured of forgiveness – based entirely on the sacrifice of Jesus in our place and our acceptance by faith of that atoning work.

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to You
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And You forgave
    the guilt of my sin. – Psalm 32:5

⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9

When we have confessed and turned away from our sin, we should continue walking with the Lord and not allow confessed sin to get in the way. Sometimes emotions of guilt remain, and we allow them to keep us tied down. Trapped in our past, feeling like we can’t move on. If we are guilty of sin, we confess to the Lord. If we have confessed, we are forgiven. If we still feel guilty, we need to recognize that as a trap and refuse to let it hold us down or keep us from walking with the Lord.

If you feel stuck in guilt even after you have confessed, resolve to trust in the promises of Jesus, not what your human emotions are sensing. Ask God to help you. The enemy will do whatever he can to undermine the sacrifice of Jesus and keep you from trusting what the Lord has said. Don’t allow a misplaced emotion – no matter how strong – to keep you from walking as the Lord wants you to.

• Complacency

2 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. – Hebrews 2:1

The Bible has many exhortations to keep fighting the fight, to continue in our faith, to not give up. When we are running our race well, it can be tempting to let down our guard or slack off. However, it doesn’t take long until our spiritual momentum suffers and we may find ourselves more vulnerable to attack and temptation. Without the proper spiritual strength, without daily putting on the armor of the Lord, it is difficult to fight well. The war never stops and it is unwise to let our attention slip.

When we see that we have not done our due diligence, we must seek to recover any lost ground and gain more. Not in our own strength, but through the strength of the Holy Spirit – confident that He will help us. And not wasting time lamenting our failures or lost battles, but determining to give our all from this point on.

• Distractions

In a world swirling with distractions, we can soon get lost in unimportant and unnecessary things. With the lies loud and insistent, it takes a diligence to keep ourselves from being consumed. We are to live for the Lord, keeping Jesus as King in our lives, and not allow the thorns to stop us from growing.

²² The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the Word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the Word, making it unfruitful. – Matthew 13:22

• Testing

When we are tested, the Lord is giving us an opportunity to grow in our faith and to trust Him even when we are hurting or can’t see the divine plan. It can be tempting to wonder if God cares or sees us in our pain, but we can rest assured that any divine testing coming our way is entirely for our good (not matter how it might feel in the moment).

If our human side wants to doubt God’s love and wants to give up, we must encourage ourselves to stay the course and keep pressing on – in adversity, in sorrows, in pain and sickness, in the dark. Jesus will not let us face this life alone as long as we remain faithful to God.

Keep Pressing On

Daily we can choose to press on. We can resolve through the strength of the Holy Spirit to forget what is behind and move toward our goal, a goal that is not unknown or uncertain, but one that is promised to us – that our continued faith in Jesus secures for us.

Press on.