“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.” (Philippians 3:15)

No one doubts the Christian maturity of the apostle Paul, but what does it mean to be mature? There may be many aspects to it, but when writing to the much loved and valued believers in Philippi, Paul insisted that maturity must include one thing.

What was that one thing?

“I press on”, he wrote, “that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” (Philippians 3:12) He knew that he was not his own – he was purchased from slavery to sin, and at an exceedingly high price. Again, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)

The apostle, with all his experience and revelation, was as eager to learn, as willing to be corrected, as much in training, so to speak, as when he was first converted. His eye was still on the prize and he would not let it go. This same mind, he wrote, must be found in every mature disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was not being driven, like a slave under the lash, to work and to struggle. No! What we see in him is love answering to Love and desire answering to Desire. He was not complacent. He was not drifting. He was not distracted. He was not allowing the few remaining days and years of his life to be wasted. He was living purposefully, deliberately and freely, compelled only by the love of Christ.

“Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind…“