What Are You Aiming For? :: The Goal of the Christian Life

Thinking back to a parenting class we did at Memorial a few years ago, I was reminded of something that not only applies to parenting, it applies to all of life. If you aim for nothing, you'll hit it every time. An archer who had this mode of operation would be a success at failing. And it would be crazy for him or her to expect to hit the bull’s eye without aiming for it!

The target in our families should be Jesus. We should be pointing our kids, grandkids, parents, and other relatives to Jesus in all we say and do. Most importantly, we should be seeking to be like Christ in all we say and do. Our goal is to know him and become like Him. And in being like Him, we must also be pointing others to Him in all we say and do.

The Christian life isn’t about just ‘going to church’ on Sundays or even every time the doors are open. Is your goal to make it to church, to look good in front your Sunday School class, to be involved in the ministries of the church, to ________ (you fill in the blank), or is it to love the Lord with your whole being, to love others the way Christ did, and to lead others to do the same?

I must admit my goal is often not the latter. Too often I settle for less than a life that is radically sold out to the one true God. I pray my aim will always be focused on Christ and that my life, through my words and actions, would point you to Him as well.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14

This note was originally written for the Memorial Baptist Church weekly e-mail update on March 28, 2011.