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I Have Not Taken Hold Philippians 3:13a
Opening: The word-game streak — failure doesn't kill motivation, it sharpens it.
Review — Philippians 3:12 “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.”
- It's okay not to be perfect.
- It's not okay to not have a goal.
- Make sure your goal isn't garbage.
- Our response to falling short is critical.
- Our motivation is that Christ has taken hold of us.
Today's Verse — Philippians 3:13a “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.”
I. Brothers and Sisters — We Are Family, Not a Hierarchy
- Paul addresses the church as family throughout the letter (1:8, 4:1)
- No one gets to stand above anyone else in the race
- Stop comparing your race to somebody else's
- Humility about our own growth makes us less smug and critical of others
II. I Do Not Consider — Honest Inventory
- “Consider” is the language of a ledger — an honest accounting, not a feeling
- Time can pass without real growth if we never stop to check
- Paul made this a habit (1 Timothy, 1 Corinthians)
- Scripture calls us to the same discipline (2 Corinthians 13:5, Psalm 139:23–24, James 1:23–25 — the mirror)
- Not to condemn ourselves, but to find what needs to change
III. Yet — Hopeful Expectation, Not Despair
- “Yet” looks forward, not back
- Not yet doesn't mean never
- Illustration: learning an instrument — small markers of real progress
- Illustration: watching the GPS count down on a long drive
- Our confidence rests on being grasped by Christ, not on our own grip (v.12)
Three Things to Carry
- We are family.
- We take honest inventory.
- We live in hopeful expectation.
Closing recitation: “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.”
