"Judge not, that you be not judged" - Jesus Christ, Matthew 7:1
It is a harsh reality of life that due to the pain of personal injury in the form of unjust judging sustained often, we become wary and gun-shy to engage too much with some people. It keeps us standing at a distance in relationships when God wants us to know and be known. It results in many people living in a relational desert rather than a lush landscape of friendships; a dead-end of isolation rather than a network of connectedness.
Being judged wrongly feels horrible doesn't it? You know the truth about yourself (or at least your view of it) and then someone comes along and knocks down your house of cards. Pain, anger, indignation, hot resentment, shock and tears and denial are all common responses. All human. All understandable.
Isn't it interesting that we can't remember how it feels to be judged wrongly when we inflict our judgment on others? Immune to the previous pain, we go forward with abandon, measuring out infinite verdicts unrestrained; spraying to all fields, we rush headlong into the error of our ways.
Why do we live with a double standard - allowing ourselves to judge freely but thinking it strange and out of place when it happens to us?
There is a truth that ought to keep us from ever judging anybody wrongly: the truth about ourselves; where we have come from, the grace and mercy we have received in Christ that covers all our sins. It works perfectly with God, but with us who don't see the whole picture, things are different. It's actually a good thing we aren't all-knowing. Basically, if you knew me like I truly am you would judge me more harshly than you already do. If I knew you the same way I would think worse of you too.
There is always back-story, stuff that only God knows that if we knew would give us the perspective necessary to be generous with acceptance and stingy with judgment. It would make us discerning, not condemning.
Mankind seems to be on a continuous quest to prove to himself that he is able, self-sufficient, self-reliant. Whether survival shows or cooking competitions, we want to prove that we can do it - all by our self. But the truth is that we are deficient, we are not adequate, we cannot be God. God alone is God and we need Him desperately. The human spirit is strong, yes, but it is a reflection of the glory and image of God, not something that we generate; merely a reflection of the God who made us.
If we could simply grasp the immensity of God's grace and the enormity of our sinfulness; that Jesus was judged for our sin and that we go free due to His condemnation, we could live with so much more grace towards others. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom. 8:1). May we live in that truth and show it to others.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Standing on the Promises
Ten Reasons Not to Be Anxious According to Jesus:
God is in control (6:26).
God gives and sustains life (6:27)
God cares for His own (6:28-30)
You are valuable to God (6:26)
It doesn’t accomplish anything (6:27).
It hinders you rather than helping you.
You are eternal (6:28-30)
Anxiety is fear based in unbelief (6:31-32)
God knows what you need (6:32)
God gives everything you need to do His will (6:33)
God doesn’t give you more than you can handle (6:34).
In the ESV Matthew 6:34 ends with the word "Trouble", Greek word is kakia, evil. Freedom from anxiety does not come from a guarantee of no trouble; but a guarantee that trouble will be used by God for good. God has promised to work all things together for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).
Paul in Phil. 4:6 he says just like Jesus, "Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God." In 4:19 he gives a promise like Jesus, "My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
Worry is a waste of time and effort. Redeem the time; resolve to trust God.
You can battle the unbelief of anxiety with the promises of God.
When you are anxious about a new venture, battle unbelief with the promise: "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my Righteous right hand" (Is. 41:10).
When you are anxious about being weak battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).
When you are anxious about the future, battle unbelief with the promise, "I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Ps. 32:8). When anxious about opponents, battle unbelief with the promise, "If God is for us who can be against us!" (Rom. 8:31).
When you are anxious about getting old, battle unbelief with the promise, "Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save" (Is. 46:4).
When you are anxious about dying, battle unbelief with the promise "none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living" (Rom. 14:9–11).
God wants to be trusted one day at a time. He cares for you; enough to make the ultimate sacrifice for His glory and your eternal good. God the Son trusted God the Father. When Jesus went to the cross, substituting Himself in our place, He cried out to the Father before He died Luke 23:46 Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit. Another way to say trust. When you trust God you put your life in God’s hands, where it already is.
God is in control (6:26).
God gives and sustains life (6:27)
God cares for His own (6:28-30)
You are valuable to God (6:26)
It doesn’t accomplish anything (6:27).
It hinders you rather than helping you.
You are eternal (6:28-30)
Anxiety is fear based in unbelief (6:31-32)
God knows what you need (6:32)
God gives everything you need to do His will (6:33)
God doesn’t give you more than you can handle (6:34).
In the ESV Matthew 6:34 ends with the word "Trouble", Greek word is kakia, evil. Freedom from anxiety does not come from a guarantee of no trouble; but a guarantee that trouble will be used by God for good. God has promised to work all things together for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).
Paul in Phil. 4:6 he says just like Jesus, "Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God." In 4:19 he gives a promise like Jesus, "My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
Worry is a waste of time and effort. Redeem the time; resolve to trust God.
You can battle the unbelief of anxiety with the promises of God.
When you are anxious about a new venture, battle unbelief with the promise: "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my Righteous right hand" (Is. 41:10).
When you are anxious about being weak battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).
When you are anxious about the future, battle unbelief with the promise, "I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Ps. 32:8). When anxious about opponents, battle unbelief with the promise, "If God is for us who can be against us!" (Rom. 8:31).
When you are anxious about getting old, battle unbelief with the promise, "Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save" (Is. 46:4).
When you are anxious about dying, battle unbelief with the promise "none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living" (Rom. 14:9–11).
God wants to be trusted one day at a time. He cares for you; enough to make the ultimate sacrifice for His glory and your eternal good. God the Son trusted God the Father. When Jesus went to the cross, substituting Himself in our place, He cried out to the Father before He died Luke 23:46 Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit. Another way to say trust. When you trust God you put your life in God’s hands, where it already is.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
We are Searchers
What we go after makes a difference. Either we’ll be wrapped up in accumulating things; trying to make ourselves famous; or we will be all wrapped up in making God famous. We will be concerned most for feeding, clothing, comforting, entertaining, and preserving our bodies or we will be totally concerned with God first. Jesus made us and cares for us. He doesn’t say earthly needs aren’t important – on the contrary He taught us to pray for our daily needs. But He is saying that if we become fixated on material comfort we are choosing a false god basically; unworthy of the bulk of our attention. We should plan ahead for the future, take sensible steps for our security and for our households, but we are not to be distracted by it to the point of being consumed with self-destructive anxiety & obsessive worry.
Seek is a search word. Jesus makes it clear that all humans are searchers. We all live for something; something to give us a reason to live; the thing we dedicate our life to. Our ambition, our desire, our goals, what drives us to achieve, what makes us tick; what motivates us. In contrast with what those who don’t follow God go after, strong desires are good if they are aimed in the right direction. If there is movement towards God, if it points you toward Him, they are good.
What do you want most? What are you trying to get? Jesus boils it down to 2 choices: the building of your own security, comfort and fame or the increase and victory of God’s rule and righteousness in the world. I am praying that you and I will both choose what is best today.
Seek is a search word. Jesus makes it clear that all humans are searchers. We all live for something; something to give us a reason to live; the thing we dedicate our life to. Our ambition, our desire, our goals, what drives us to achieve, what makes us tick; what motivates us. In contrast with what those who don’t follow God go after, strong desires are good if they are aimed in the right direction. If there is movement towards God, if it points you toward Him, they are good.
What do you want most? What are you trying to get? Jesus boils it down to 2 choices: the building of your own security, comfort and fame or the increase and victory of God’s rule and righteousness in the world. I am praying that you and I will both choose what is best today.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Christ is our Righteousness
If you are a Christian, then you desire, because of and by the grace of God, to be a counter culture for God’s glory and others good. While you do not always do it, you are aware of and focusing on future realities; trusting God for the future. God's righteousness touches the past, present and future. It is that for which we hunger 5:6 and for which we suffer 5:10. It is a conformity to God’s moral law, going further than the scribes and Pharisees 5:20. Our good works are not to earn anything but to obey our King.
Recipients of God's grace are identified by character and good works. Christian righteousness is not as man has warped it; thinking we are better than others or being prideful; it has nothing to do with that at all. It is not a teaching of salvation by works; the 1st beatitude made clear that those who inherit the kingdom will be the poor in spirit, who see themselves as bankrupt, having nothing, not even righteousness; as Paul said, he did not come with righteousness of his own derived from the law but the righteousness which is through faith in Christ for all who believe. Christian righteousness is much deeper, of the heart, through God’s Spirit indwelling His people; the new birth brings it.
Jesus is our righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). Faith in Christ gives us all the riches of Christ’s Righteousness. To have it you must be born again.
Recipients of God's grace are identified by character and good works. Christian righteousness is not as man has warped it; thinking we are better than others or being prideful; it has nothing to do with that at all. It is not a teaching of salvation by works; the 1st beatitude made clear that those who inherit the kingdom will be the poor in spirit, who see themselves as bankrupt, having nothing, not even righteousness; as Paul said, he did not come with righteousness of his own derived from the law but the righteousness which is through faith in Christ for all who believe. Christian righteousness is much deeper, of the heart, through God’s Spirit indwelling His people; the new birth brings it.
Jesus is our righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). Faith in Christ gives us all the riches of Christ’s Righteousness. To have it you must be born again.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Worry is a Waste of Time
Life is full of choices. We see the choice in Matthew 6:19-21 between 2 treasures (Treasure on earth or Treasure in heaven); in 6:22-23 between 2 states of being (Light or Darkness); in 6:24 between 2 masters (God or possessions); in 6:25-34 between 2 preoccupations (our bodies or God). Jesus says make a choice. We feel the pull of worldly ambition; materialism dulls our senses; spoils our appetite for spiritual things. Jesus want us to choose well. It’s like Jesus is putting the false and true up against each other; holding them up for us to see; inviting us to compare the 2 – to find out for ourselves which is better. He shows the foolishness of chasing earthly treasures and the wisdom of seeking the things of God. More than ever in these times in which we live – with exploding populations and harsh economic times, Christians are realizing that money and prestige isn’t where it’s all at; reevaluating our conspicuous consumerism; our out of balance consumption in light of the times and it is waking us up to Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. It isn’t just for people back then, it makes tons of sense right now.
Jesus says the world’s ambition is imbalanced. Those who don;t follow Jesus seek 1st their own security; losing both it and their souls. Like the man who wanted to build himself bigger barns and said to his soul, relax, you have it made – when God said you fool! This very night your soul is required of you. You didn’t prepare your heart and what you did prepare someone else will enjoy.
His reign in your life and the world. God’s specific rule over His people. Starts when you humble yourself, repent, believe, yield to God, are born again. Seek 1st His K – to want most the spread and increase of the rule of Christ. God’s Kingdom exists only where Christ is acknowledged as Lord. It starts 1st in your life: your home life, marriage, family, how you take care of your business dealings, professional life, bank account, tax refunds; how you live, what kind of lifestyle, what kind of citizen you are. It also has to do with your relationships – your perspective towards unbelievers – whether or not you accept your evangelistic responsibility towards those who do not know Jesus – friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers and also having a global concern. [BTW - hunger is not a case of God not providing enough food but of people not sharing enough of what they have. God has given ample resources but people hoard and waste it and do not share.]
Why do we care if the gospel is spread? For the glory of God. To add to the worship. To desire that God’s name be praised and Christ be honored. And for the future – we await Christ’s return. Phil. 2 says that one day every knee will bow to Jesus, every tongue confess that He is Lord.
Jesus says the world’s ambition is imbalanced. Those who don;t follow Jesus seek 1st their own security; losing both it and their souls. Like the man who wanted to build himself bigger barns and said to his soul, relax, you have it made – when God said you fool! This very night your soul is required of you. You didn’t prepare your heart and what you did prepare someone else will enjoy.
His reign in your life and the world. God’s specific rule over His people. Starts when you humble yourself, repent, believe, yield to God, are born again. Seek 1st His K – to want most the spread and increase of the rule of Christ. God’s Kingdom exists only where Christ is acknowledged as Lord. It starts 1st in your life: your home life, marriage, family, how you take care of your business dealings, professional life, bank account, tax refunds; how you live, what kind of lifestyle, what kind of citizen you are. It also has to do with your relationships – your perspective towards unbelievers – whether or not you accept your evangelistic responsibility towards those who do not know Jesus – friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers and also having a global concern. [BTW - hunger is not a case of God not providing enough food but of people not sharing enough of what they have. God has given ample resources but people hoard and waste it and do not share.]
Why do we care if the gospel is spread? For the glory of God. To add to the worship. To desire that God’s name be praised and Christ be honored. And for the future – we await Christ’s return. Phil. 2 says that one day every knee will bow to Jesus, every tongue confess that He is Lord.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Worry Doubles Your Troubles!
In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus says "do not be anxious" several times. Common sense says worry doesn’t make any sense. Live today, relax about tomorrow. Worrying about tomorrow today is useless because you are wasting today worrying when God wants you to live your life. You don’t deal with what God wants you to deal with – the tasks and troubles of today – responsibilities, as well as issues.
Trouble (Greek kakia – evil) happens (Matthew 6:34). Our freedom from anxiety does not come from a guarantee of no trouble, but a guarantee that trouble will be used by God for good. God has promised that He will work all things together for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (see Rom. 8:28).
Worry is a waste of time and effort. Live one day at a time. Plan for the future but don’t stress out about it. If you worry about something that never happens you worried for nothing. If you worry about something that does end up happening you worried twice! Worry doubles your troubles!
Trouble (Greek kakia – evil) happens (Matthew 6:34). Our freedom from anxiety does not come from a guarantee of no trouble, but a guarantee that trouble will be used by God for good. God has promised that He will work all things together for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (see Rom. 8:28).
Worry is a waste of time and effort. Live one day at a time. Plan for the future but don’t stress out about it. If you worry about something that never happens you worried for nothing. If you worry about something that does end up happening you worried twice! Worry doubles your troubles!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Our Holy (and Humble) Ambition
This past Sunday we focused on trusting God with everything as we looked at part 1 of “Worry and Anxiety: A Question of Trust” in Matthew 6:25-34. It is so easy for us to trust anything and everything except God. But Jesus in His great love for us exposes our false securities and shows us why we are not to worry: because God is in control, He gives and sustains life; and He cares for His own.
Worry doesn’t fit with faith. It doesn’t do us any good, it actually harms us; and Jesus wants to rescue us from ourselves. He wants us to make the choice of contentment over anxiety. We pick up where we left off, seeing trust as the God-ordained loss or lack) of control. Where we “roll” everything to Him (Prov. 16:3 and elsewhere), entrusting to Him what we cannot and should not try to control. He knows everything, can do anything and is the One we look to make sense out of life. Basically, God’s grace brings contentment rather than anxiety.
Now, by way of contrast, we see in 6:31 The world’s ignorant (and misguided) ambition. Jesus says that the Gentiles eagerly seek the things that perish like food, drink and clothing. The Greek word for Gentiles is ta ethnes, or literally “the nations”; which commonly designates non-Jews or Gentiles; but the emphasis here is, as Michael Wilkins puts it, on “those who operate outside of God’s values”. They are all wrapped up in this pursuit because they do not have an internal spiritual compass as we do, the Holy Spirit, to guide and direct. They are left to their own devices and are at the mercy of their own vices. Misguided ambition leads to anxiety.
The reason we don’t need to live like that is because God knows our needs and meets them (Matt. 6:32). Jesus taught those who came to listen to Him, He felt compassion for the crowds, who came thronging but not fully yielding. Like before He fed the 5000 (Mark 6:30-44), when He says to His disciples, “you give them something to eat”. They could not; they didn't have the resources. I will Jesus says, watch Me. He did so to show them His glory and power; to teach them that they should look to Him and be satisfied. But most only saw a free lunch, and went on in ignorance.
Jesus does not condemn people for going after false "gods", they condemn themselves. He is full of mercy and compassion. Matt. 9:36 Jesus saw the crowds and felt compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Unbelievers have limited options. They seek earthly treasure which becomes their master, and an evil one at that. It plays the tyrant in their lives. They who have exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for that which is false can only do one thing: worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever (Rom. 1:21-23). With regard to Matthew 6:31 Jamieson, Faucett and Brown say, “knowing nothing definitely beyond this present life to kindle their aspirations and engage their supreme attention, the heathen naturally pursue present objects as their chief, their only good. To what an elevation above these does Jesus here lift His disciples!”
Jesus' response to the misguided should lead us to follow suit and look on them with compassion, pity, and mercy, not judgment. We ought to respond with humility, thankful that God has opened our eyes to greater realities; and wanting the same for them. But sometimes we imitate those who “operate outside of God’s values”. Although God has called us to be different, set apart to Him, in but not of the world, we sometimes live lives almost indistinguishable from the world. Sadder than those who don’t know better.
Matthew 6:33-34 is Jesus’ great summary statement, showing what ought to be the Church’s holy (and humble) ambition. By the “church” I mean the true church of Jesus Christ, comprised of all those who are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith in Christ alone. We have a different motivation, ambition and Master. We desire, because of and by the grace of God, to be a counter culture for God’s glory and others good. 1 Thess. 4:11-12 says "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly towards outsiders and not be in any need". 2 Cor. 5:9 says "we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him". Jesus wants us to show the world true treasure in our words and life; show them another option – a good one with a good Master. Give them Jesus, give them heaven!
Why should we live like this? Because it leads to freedom, joy, peace; to God’s glory and our's and other's good. You can’t force, dictate or legislate morality or service or devotion or right motives. It comes from a heart wooed by the Love that will not let us go. Jesus said, as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up (John 3:14-15). If I be lifted up I will draw all men to Myself (John 12:32, see also 6:40, 44, 47). Eph. 2 tells us that we (the true church of Jesus Christ) were dead in our sins, unable to do anything of value spiritually. But God, being rich in mercy, with the great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with Christ and has seated us in the heavenly places in Christ. We live and move and have our being here on earth but there are greater spiritual realities in play, that no one can see, but God tells us are present. And we believe. By faith we walk in that knowledge. By faith we press on towards the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14).
(BTW, if you are reading these words and don’t yet know Jesus Christ in this way, you can, by simply acknowledging who He is and believing that He died, was buried, came back to life and is coming back someday for those who love Him – there is true and meaningful life in no one else - you can receive the love and forgiveness that has eluded you your whole life until this moment in time).
Worry doesn’t fit with faith. It doesn’t do us any good, it actually harms us; and Jesus wants to rescue us from ourselves. He wants us to make the choice of contentment over anxiety. We pick up where we left off, seeing trust as the God-ordained loss or lack) of control. Where we “roll” everything to Him (Prov. 16:3 and elsewhere), entrusting to Him what we cannot and should not try to control. He knows everything, can do anything and is the One we look to make sense out of life. Basically, God’s grace brings contentment rather than anxiety.
Now, by way of contrast, we see in 6:31 The world’s ignorant (and misguided) ambition. Jesus says that the Gentiles eagerly seek the things that perish like food, drink and clothing. The Greek word for Gentiles is ta ethnes, or literally “the nations”; which commonly designates non-Jews or Gentiles; but the emphasis here is, as Michael Wilkins puts it, on “those who operate outside of God’s values”. They are all wrapped up in this pursuit because they do not have an internal spiritual compass as we do, the Holy Spirit, to guide and direct. They are left to their own devices and are at the mercy of their own vices. Misguided ambition leads to anxiety.
The reason we don’t need to live like that is because God knows our needs and meets them (Matt. 6:32). Jesus taught those who came to listen to Him, He felt compassion for the crowds, who came thronging but not fully yielding. Like before He fed the 5000 (Mark 6:30-44), when He says to His disciples, “you give them something to eat”. They could not; they didn't have the resources. I will Jesus says, watch Me. He did so to show them His glory and power; to teach them that they should look to Him and be satisfied. But most only saw a free lunch, and went on in ignorance.
Jesus does not condemn people for going after false "gods", they condemn themselves. He is full of mercy and compassion. Matt. 9:36 Jesus saw the crowds and felt compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Unbelievers have limited options. They seek earthly treasure which becomes their master, and an evil one at that. It plays the tyrant in their lives. They who have exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for that which is false can only do one thing: worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever (Rom. 1:21-23). With regard to Matthew 6:31 Jamieson, Faucett and Brown say, “knowing nothing definitely beyond this present life to kindle their aspirations and engage their supreme attention, the heathen naturally pursue present objects as their chief, their only good. To what an elevation above these does Jesus here lift His disciples!”
Jesus' response to the misguided should lead us to follow suit and look on them with compassion, pity, and mercy, not judgment. We ought to respond with humility, thankful that God has opened our eyes to greater realities; and wanting the same for them. But sometimes we imitate those who “operate outside of God’s values”. Although God has called us to be different, set apart to Him, in but not of the world, we sometimes live lives almost indistinguishable from the world. Sadder than those who don’t know better.
Matthew 6:33-34 is Jesus’ great summary statement, showing what ought to be the Church’s holy (and humble) ambition. By the “church” I mean the true church of Jesus Christ, comprised of all those who are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith in Christ alone. We have a different motivation, ambition and Master. We desire, because of and by the grace of God, to be a counter culture for God’s glory and others good. 1 Thess. 4:11-12 says "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly towards outsiders and not be in any need". 2 Cor. 5:9 says "we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him". Jesus wants us to show the world true treasure in our words and life; show them another option – a good one with a good Master. Give them Jesus, give them heaven!
Why should we live like this? Because it leads to freedom, joy, peace; to God’s glory and our's and other's good. You can’t force, dictate or legislate morality or service or devotion or right motives. It comes from a heart wooed by the Love that will not let us go. Jesus said, as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up (John 3:14-15). If I be lifted up I will draw all men to Myself (John 12:32, see also 6:40, 44, 47). Eph. 2 tells us that we (the true church of Jesus Christ) were dead in our sins, unable to do anything of value spiritually. But God, being rich in mercy, with the great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with Christ and has seated us in the heavenly places in Christ. We live and move and have our being here on earth but there are greater spiritual realities in play, that no one can see, but God tells us are present. And we believe. By faith we walk in that knowledge. By faith we press on towards the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14).
(BTW, if you are reading these words and don’t yet know Jesus Christ in this way, you can, by simply acknowledging who He is and believing that He died, was buried, came back to life and is coming back someday for those who love Him – there is true and meaningful life in no one else - you can receive the love and forgiveness that has eluded you your whole life until this moment in time).
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