12 A huge cloud of witnesses is all around us. So let us throw off everything that stands in our way. Let us throw off any sin that holds on to us so tightly. And let us keep on running the race marked out for us. ² Let us keep looking to Jesus. He is the one who started this journey of faith. And he is the one who completes the journey of faith. He paid no attention to the shame of the cross. He suffered there because of the joy he was looking forward to. Then he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ He made it through these attacks by sinners. So think about him. Then you won’t get tired. You won’t lose hope.

God Trains His Children

⁴ You struggle against sin. But you have not yet fought to the point of spilling your blood.

¹² I have not yet received all these things. I have not yet reached my goal. Christ Jesus took hold of me so that I could reach that goal. So I keep pushing myself forward to reach it. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I don’t consider that I have taken hold of it yet. But here is the one thing I do. I forget what is behind me. I push hard toward what is ahead of me. ¹⁴ I push myself forward toward the goal to win the prize. God has appointed me to win it. The heavenly prize is Christ Jesus himself.

Following Paul’s Example

¹⁵ So all of us who are grown up in the faith should see things this way. Maybe you think differently about something. But God will make it clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already reached.

²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven. And we can hardly wait for a Savior from there. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹ He has the power to bring everything under his control. By his power he will change our earthly bodies. They will become like his glorious body.

⁵ So don’t live under the control of sin. If you do, you will think about what sin wants. Live under the control of the Holy Spirit. If you do, you will think about what the Spirit wants.