January 23, 2023: Philippians 3:15-16 - Let Us be of the Same Mind

“Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.” - Philippians 3:15-16

In the previous verses of Scripture in this chapter, the apostle Paul had reminded the believers in Christ at the church in Philippi that their salvation from sins only comes “through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” (Philippians 3:9) There is no righteousness apart from faith in Jesus Christ, for He alone is righteous.

Paul had encouraged them not to look back at their past but to keep pressing on toward the upward call of Christ, to that day when they would be resurrected by Him from the dead in His call of glory. Paul’s words are a reminder to believers in Christ today not to give up but to keep pressing on through Jesus Christ, no matter how difficult it gets, and to keep our focus on Him.

In verses 15-16, Paul tells them, “Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind” and again “let us be of the same mind.” The mind is a powerful thing. When I was young, I used to be a runner, and I enjoyed the freedom of running and being outdoors. When I was in middle school, I was on the track team, but I was always a sprinter. I could run quite fast but only for short distances. I absolutely despised running any distance over a quarter mile. I had this mental block about it.

After I got married, started working, and had our children, I didn’t exercise until my mid-40’s. I had started working out at the gym, lifting weights, and doing cardio exercises, but I had not run since I had taken a PE class at college and had to run a mile. At that time, I was in my 20s and I was out of shape and had not exercised in a long time. I remember feeling like I was going to die when I ran that mile. That was the last time I had run, and it had left such an impression upon me that I avoided running like it was the plague, especially outside. My husband knew, however, that I was ready to take that next step because I had trained my body and my mind, I had pushed myself hard at the gym to get to where I was, forgetting about my past when I was unfit. He pushed me to push myself to move past that mental block and get on the treadmill and run for a minute. I didn’t want to at first. He told me, “If you can workout at the gym for two hours, you can run a minute on the treadmill!” I didn’t believe that I could do it, but I was so frustrated at him that I did it. It may not sound like much to you, but to me, that minute felt like an hour. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, but I did it. That was my breakthrough.

Through my husband’s pushing me to push myself to press on, I took the next step and started running outside - uphill! It was a slight hill over the distance of about a mile. It took me several times to run it non-stop, with my husband running ahead of me, waiting for me to get to where he was, but eventually I had conquered that hill! After keeping at it and pressing on, I finally had run the whole track, 3.33 miles, a little over a 5K run. That was the furthest I had ever run in my life non-stop, and my husband had run it with me. He was up ahead when I came to the end point, and he was there congratulating me when I had made it! I lifted up my arms, like Rocky did in the movie, I was elated that I did it! I had done it with my husband’s confidence in me that I could do it, through his pushing me to push myself, because if it were up to me, I likely would have never got on the treadmill in the gym in the first place; I would have stayed inside my comfort zone.

Paul’s words to the Philippians are a reminder to all believers: we must have the same mind that we will win our race of faith, we will accomplish our goal, and we will receive the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus if we keep pressing on and keep our focus on Him. If our mind tells us it’s too hard, if we look back and miss what we used to have, if we miss those days of our sin and our comfort zone, then we won’t press on, we will give up, and we will miss out on the eternal glory that Christ Himself has laid up for us. I wouldn’t want that for myself and I don’t want that for you. I pray you get out of your comfort zone and keep pressing on, for we are in the race of our lives. Will you endure, pressing on, and cross the finish line, or will you give up and miss out on the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus? The choice is yours. 🏃‍♀️🏃✝️