Focusing on a target, not avoiding a mistake

Have you ever taught a kid to ride a bike? If you have then you'll know they need to keep looking forward and not at you as you hold on behind them. By looking back they lose balance and fall, but focusing on where they are going helps them drive forward.

That's like many aspects of life. If we get too focused on avoiding a bad fate, we can end up suffering it anyway.

Too focused on avoiding sin

I've often had conversations with young Christians who want to know "Where's the line" in a certain issue. It's not a bad thing. They're trying to work out what's good and what's bad and change their lives. But it can go askew.

It's not just that red lines might actually be more complicated in real life or under certain conditions. It's that instead of focusing on God, Jesus and good things, we end up spending more time thinking about the negative things we want to avoid.

It's like trying to quit chocolate, but you spend all your time worrying about not eating chocolate. When you see a chocolate bar, well, you're primed ready to give in.

Focusing on the right target in life

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul knew this as well. Although he hadn't attained the goal of being completely like Christ, he wasn't focused on what he'd failed to do, but the goal ahead of him.

I've seen this in some areas of our life. We can get so focused on how we've failed to live up to the calling God has put on us, that we get paralysed and feel unable to carry on.

Of course, there's truth there: in our own strength, we are unable to become like Christ. But the Good news of the gospel is that it isn't up to us. It's up to God and his holy spirit working in us. We do have a role to play in this, but it's surrendering to God's work in us and letting him work through us.

And that means focusing on the goal that he's called us to.

They match where the pins are but are far close to you. I never used these when I was a kid, but as a teenager, a friend told me that these were the real trick to hitting a strike.

If you were bowling straight, you just had to line up with those first lines. If you weren't on track, you adjust based on how close you were.

When I started trying to spin the ball, I could work out how much the ball changed direction after it was released. With that information I could adjust.

This is still focusing on the goal we're driving towards, but learning from our mistakes in the past.

So if you find yourself falling into the same sin patterns, perhaps the answer is to focus more on the goal you are striving towards.