Our Only Aim
02/20/2026
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” — Acts 20:24 (NIV)
Paul is not speaking from a place of comfort. He is not having a mountaintop moment. He is saying goodbye to people he deeply loves. He knows suffering is ahead. And yet he says something that rearranges our priorities:
“My only aim…”
Most of us have many aims. Security. Stability. Reputation. Growth. Influence. Comfort. We juggle goals like spinning plates, hoping none of them crash.
But Paul simplifies everything into one driving focus: finish the race. Complete the task. Testify to grace.
I remember walking through our home as it was being built. The studs were exposed. Wires hung loose. Dust was everywhere. To someone unfamiliar, it looked like chaos. But we weren’t worried. We had the blueprints. Every beam, every measurement, every placement had purpose.
If you had walked in halfway through and judged the house, you would have missed the vision.
Paul understood something similar about his life. There were seasons that looked messy, shipwrecks, beatings, prison cells. But he wasn’t living for how it looked in the middle. He was living according to the blueprint given by Jesus.
He didn’t measure success by comfort. He measured it by completion.
Now, as someone who literally invited people to write Scripture on the studs of our home before the walls went up, I understand this picture. You see, what is written beneath the surface matters more than what is eventually painted on the outside. The unseen foundation determines the visible outcome.
Paul’s foundation was clear: “The task the Lord Jesus has given me.”
Not the task culture applauds.
Not the task that feels easiest.
The task Jesus assigned.
And what was that task? To testify to the good news of God’s grace.
Grace is not just doctrine. It’s a story. It’s your story. It’s the moment God met you when you were overwhelmed. It’s the season He carried you when you were unsure. It’s the mercy that rewrote your failures into testimony.
When you make grace your message, fear loses its grip. When you make completion your aim, comparison fades away.
You don’t have to run someone else’s race…….You just have to finish yours.
Action Steps:
• Ask the Lord to show you what “the task” is in this current season of your life.
• Evaluate your goals. Which ones are cultural pressure, and which ones are Kingdom purpose?
• Share one personal story this week that highlights God’s grace in your life.
Today’s Challenge:
Choose obedience over optics. Make one decision today based on your calling, not on how it will look to others.
Prayer:
Father, thank You for the blueprint You have written over my life. Help me live with a singular aim to finish the race You have set before me. Strip away distractions that pull me from Your assignment. Fill me with courage to testify to Your grace in every season. May my life reflect obedience more than appearance and faithfulness more than comfort. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
#LoveGod #LovePeople #FindFreedom #FindYourDesign
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” — Acts 20:24 (NIV)
Paul is not speaking from a place of comfort. He is not having a mountaintop moment. He is saying goodbye to people he deeply loves. He knows suffering is ahead. And yet he says something that rearranges our priorities:
“My only aim…”
Most of us have many aims. Security. Stability. Reputation. Growth. Influence. Comfort. We juggle goals like spinning plates, hoping none of them crash.
But Paul simplifies everything into one driving focus: finish the race. Complete the task. Testify to grace.
I remember walking through our home as it was being built. The studs were exposed. Wires hung loose. Dust was everywhere. To someone unfamiliar, it looked like chaos. But we weren’t worried. We had the blueprints. Every beam, every measurement, every placement had purpose.
If you had walked in halfway through and judged the house, you would have missed the vision.
Paul understood something similar about his life. There were seasons that looked messy, shipwrecks, beatings, prison cells. But he wasn’t living for how it looked in the middle. He was living according to the blueprint given by Jesus.
He didn’t measure success by comfort. He measured it by completion.
Now, as someone who literally invited people to write Scripture on the studs of our home before the walls went up, I understand this picture. You see, what is written beneath the surface matters more than what is eventually painted on the outside. The unseen foundation determines the visible outcome.
Paul’s foundation was clear: “The task the Lord Jesus has given me.”
Not the task culture applauds.
Not the task that feels easiest.
The task Jesus assigned.
And what was that task? To testify to the good news of God’s grace.
Grace is not just doctrine. It’s a story. It’s your story. It’s the moment God met you when you were overwhelmed. It’s the season He carried you when you were unsure. It’s the mercy that rewrote your failures into testimony.
When you make grace your message, fear loses its grip. When you make completion your aim, comparison fades away.
You don’t have to run someone else’s race…….You just have to finish yours.
Action Steps:
• Ask the Lord to show you what “the task” is in this current season of your life.
• Evaluate your goals. Which ones are cultural pressure, and which ones are Kingdom purpose?
• Share one personal story this week that highlights God’s grace in your life.
Today’s Challenge:
Choose obedience over optics. Make one decision today based on your calling, not on how it will look to others.
Prayer:
Father, thank You for the blueprint You have written over my life. Help me live with a singular aim to finish the race You have set before me. Strip away distractions that pull me from Your assignment. Fill me with courage to testify to Your grace in every season. May my life reflect obedience more than appearance and faithfulness more than comfort. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
#LoveGod #LovePeople #FindFreedom #FindYourDesign
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