by Reiko Yukawa

Created on: January 11, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

I was in a Chinese restaurant recently, and the phrase, "Better is the enemy of good" came up as the fortune in a fortune cookie. While it is not much of a fortune, this phrase does illustrate an important truth about our goals in life, especially in the Christian life.

It is not enough to aspire to be "better." With a completely good and perfect and holy God and Lord as our ultimate role model, how can we possibly just aspire to be "better"? That is like moving 100 feet along a line that is infinitely long. It won't get us anywhere. We must aim for the source of good, even if it is currently out of reach.

Although we cannot attain perfection while we remain mortal, we must never lose sight of the ultimate goal: to become "like God" so that we may truly become children of God and heirs of the kingdom of God. (Rom 8:16-17) That means emulating God's character in everything that we do.

All other worthwhile goals are subgoals of this one main thing, really. Happiness, wisdom, right living, helping and serving others, prosperity, and other things in life are all goals that we seek to attain, but the Creator of life has all these things! If we seek to be like God, we will attain these other things and have a rich and satisfying life. This one goal is the only one that really means anything in the end.

One clarification: in no way am I advocating that anyone can "earn" salvation or a place in the kingdom. Striving to be like God is not the way to salvation. (John 14:6) However, there is much to gain by right living. The character we build now is the only thing we will take with us through the resurrection. If we learn God's ways and apply them and build good habits and character now, we will be in a far better position in the kingdom of heaven. Remember: we are justified and saved by the Messiah's life (and death, of course), but judged by our own lives.

Another quote I heard one time seems relevant here: "Reach for the stars, and even if you miss, you'll touch the sky." In other words, have high goals for yourself and push yourself to reach as high as possible. Aiming to be perfect is a goal that is obviously out of reach, just like jumping and touching the stars. However, if you jump as high as you can with the goal of touching the stars, you will jump higher than if your only goal was to jump "higher than before." Be the best that you possibly can be!

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