“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” (Philippians 3:12-15). In some ways, perfection is like a mirage. It is always just over the next hill, always tantalizingly just out of reach. This might seem cruel to us, especially if we would much rather be perfect rather than merely slowly but surely becoming perfect. But the fact that perfection is always out in front of us is actually a gift. On our very best, most successful day, when we feel like we’ve really nailed it and everything is going just right, perfection is still out ahead. And on our very worst day, when everything has gone wrong, and what’s worse, we’ve actively made things harder on ourselves and those around us by always choosing the stupider, more destructive option, even on those days, perfection is still out ahead. Because perfection is always out in front of us, we don’t have to do any backtracking. We don’t have to go back to square one. We don’t have to start over. If we had a great day, then we have to keep going towards perfection. If we’ve had a terrible day, then we have to keep going towards perfection. As Paul says, we must forget those things which are behind, reach for those things which are before us, and keep pressing toward the mark. To sin is to miss the mark. We do this. Every. Single. Day. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23). Missing the mark is inevitable, but we can all make the choice to keep pressing toward the mark. We can follow after perfection. We may never quite hit the mark in this life, we may never quite catch up to perfection before we die, but we can choose every day to keep trying anyway, keep following after, keep pressing toward the mark.
