Finite Progress Towards Infinity

One difficulty in trying to be like Jesus is that it can seem like we're never making any progress. After all, He is infinite in His perfection and righteousness and goodness, so any progress we make in becoming like Him can seem vanishingly insignificant. Even if you were to compare the progress of the most righteous people you can think of, the Apostles and other church leaders, for example, even their progress is insignificant compared to the infinite righteousness of our Savior. With the eternal perfection of Christ as our constant goal, it may seem that we are constantly striving onward and upward but are no farther towards our goal. And it is true that whether we've taken a hundred steps or a million, when compared to infinity both numbers are essentially zero. But if we occasionally take a moment to compare ourselves to who we once were, we may find that while all of our efforts to be perfect seem to always fall short of the goal, they have nevertheless succeeded in transforming our lives into something much better than they would have been had we not made the effort. It is not always helpful to focus on the past, but occasionally taking stock of the progress we have made can give us renewed energy in trying to become like Jesus, especially when it sometimes seems like we're never getting any nearer our goal.