Even after Paul had accomplished more than most for the cause of Christ, he still felt there was much more for him to do.  He had room for growth in his life and he fully planned to do something about it.

Philippians 3:12–14 (ESV)
¹² Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul knew this was the right attitude to have.  He went on to tell the brethren at Phillipi that anyone mature in the faith would think the same way about themselves (Philippians 3:15).

We all have room for growth.  The only way we will grow, however, is if we do what Paul did—”press on toward the goal.”  This week I want to explore some areas where we all should be pressing on toward the grand goal of obtaining the prize, that is, a home in heaven.

Let us begin by considering our faith.  We can all develop our faith and make it stronger.  What is faith?  Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament says that faith is the “conviction of the truth…generally with the included idea of trust.”  The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words has this: “Pistis is the most common term denoting ‘faith’ in the New Testament, with the underlying senses of ‘belief,’ ‘trust,’ and ‘conviction’ in the person of God and Christ” (Expository Dictionary).  Finally, Hollman’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary says that faith “conveys the idea of trust, a firm internal conviction regarding the truthfulness of someone or some claim.”

Do you see what all these definitions have in common?  They all include “trust.”  To have faith is to believe in God, with the underlying sense of trust.  It is the trust aspect of faith that we can and should develop.  We can grow in our trust in God’s providential care.  As we do so, it helps us to serve Him better in our daily lives.  Worry and anxiety impede the progress of many children of God because they allow them to become overwhelming in their lives.  The more faith we have in God and His providential care, trusting that He will keep His Word (Matthew 6:25-34), the less anxious we will be concerning the necessities of life.  This frees our minds to serve God with all our hearts while we press on toward the goal.

We can grow in our trust in God’s grace regarding salvation.  Doubting salvation robs a Christian of joy and negates some of the positive effects of hope.  Only the devil wants us to believe that our salvation is questionable.  God wants us to be sure about it.  I know this because His inspired apostles spoke confidently about our eternal life.  John wrote, “And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life” (1 John 2:25).

A real part of having confidence in our salvation is trusting the grace of God in our salvation.  We should all be able to say, “I know I’m going to heaven,” and we should be able to say that without any doubt in our minds at all.  Why? Because our confidence is not in ourselves but in the grace of God (Philippians 3:3).  While there are a lot of things that can cause doubt to creep into our minds, the more our faith in God and His Word develops, the more trust we will have as we press on toward the goal.

There are many other areas where we can develop our faith and trust God more, but I think you get the point.  None of us have faith that is so strong that it needs no further development.  The truth is, we will probably never arrive at a place where we can say our faith is as strong as it can be, and that is okay, as long as we, like Paul before us, keep on pressing toward the goal.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.