Persevering

In earnest and earthy language, Paul sets himself up as an example of a man upon whom Christ has laid hold; a man who knows he has not already attained, is not already perfected, and has not yet laid hold of that for which Christ has laid hold on him; as a man who—forgetting what is behind and stretching forward to what is ahead—presses on to lay hold of the goal; and, as a man who pursues with all his heart the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.