July 18

Read: Philippians 3:12-15

Forgetting those things which are behind… I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14).

Strengthened To Strive

By growth in grace we may be strengthened at the points of our human infirmities. We should therefore expect to grow stronger where we have been weak. Even so, we shall never wholly escape the consequences of human infirmities while we live on this earth. John Wesley wrote: “We believe that there is no such perfection in this life as implies an entire deliverance… from manifold temptation, or from numberless infirmities, wherewith the corruptible body more or less presses down the soul” (Christian Perfection).

These are the facts. Are they discouraging? Not really. Rather they reflect the glory of human life. God has not made us perfect but He has made us improvable. He has set a goal before us and put within us the urge to attain it. He has removed the carnal nature which refuses to approve the goal or to love the God who planned it. He has given us His own Holy Spirit to inspire us when we are discouraged, to strengthen us when we feel weak, to bless us when, with Paul, “we press toward the mark.”

We are made for growth to face obstacles and to: overcome them. A static perfection could not be a good perfection for a growing personality. The sanctified man has problems but he has also the freest possible access to the power of God to help him solve those problems rightly. Thanks be to God for His grace that leaves me dissatisfied enough to keep striving.

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!

— Oliver Wendell Holmes