Philippians 3:13-21 on Excellence.

Introduction: Christians should be recognized for excellence in their character and their work, but the opposite is more often true. Let us learn this important virtue of striving for excellence from Paul in his letter to the Philippians - the principles of which are also of great value.

Lessons from Philippians 3:3-21:
V13 I do not consider that I have made it on my own, but this one thing I do - Because Paul realized that the human mind can only focus on one thing at a time, he was single-minded, set his priorities in order and would allow nothing to distract his attention from achieving what he had set out to do.

forgetting those things which are behind - Though it is good to look back so that we can thank God for His goodness and also to learn from our mistakes, there is a great danger in looking back if we are not careful. Paul was an elderly man when he wrote this epistle and could, at this time of his life, look back with well-deserved satisfaction & achievements for the Lord. However, he knew the dangers of doing so - having been familiar with the disasters that followed. Grecian athletes who were foolish enough to look backwards at those runners they left behind before the finishing line was reached There is a great tendency to be complacent when we look back on our achievements. Are we looking at our achievements (eg better prayer times, more understanding of the Word, our ministries of the word) Another danger of looking back is that we will tend to use the standards of the past as the standards for the future. Are we looking at our past Christian character as our standard for our future Christian development? Or are we using our Christian character of the past  as standard for our future achievements? Another danger of looking back is that we may be discouraged by the failures of the past.
and reaching forth unto those things which are before- Instead of complacently looking at the past we should "reach forth" to the "mark" (v14) - this describes an athlete straining to do his utmost, of aiming high and finishing his work. Paul himself had achieved what no other Christian had done yet he was now in his old age "reaching forth" to the "impossible" - namely, to convert "Caesar's household. The Christian life must be one of dreaming the "impossible" for the Lord just as Christ,
V14 I press toward the goal - "Impossible" dreams will remain as mere dreams if they are not followed up with determined persistence & Consistency- which is only possible by strict discipline.