Pressing toward the Goal

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to
possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,
but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of
the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to
you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you
often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of
the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they
think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are
eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies
like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.