12. I don’t mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal. But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine. That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his.
13. Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me.
14. I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven.
15. All of us who have grown to be spiritually mature should think this way too. And if there is any of this that you don’t agree with, God will make it clear to you.
16. But we should continue following the truth we already have.
17. Brothers and sisters, join together in following my example. Also, learn by watching those who are living the way we showed you.
18. There are many who live like enemies of the cross of Christ. I have often told you about them. And it makes me cry to tell you about them now.
19. The way they live is leading them to destruction. They have replaced God with their own desires. They do shameful things, and they are proud of what they do. They think only about earthly things.
20. But the government that rules us is in heaven. We are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from there.
21. He will change our humble bodies and make them like his own glorious body. Christ can do this by his power, with which he is able to rule everything.