What Are We Pursuing?

By: Keefe Wilson

Friday, October 31, 2025

Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22

I remember reading an impactful story about the war in Iraq. It described an Army captain who led her unit in the relentless pursuit of the enemy. They were trying to stop them from planting land mines, because those mines had claimed many innocent lives. The pursuit tested their unit's endurance, and it was filled with false trails, radio silence, and minefields that could kill them. The enemy set up an ambush and struck their lead vehicle with a rocket, but their unit refused to retreat. The entire team left their vehicle on foot, determined to complete their mission. They were eventually able to corner the enemy forces, and after a long, exhausting fight, they captured them. Peace was restored, but victory didn't come easy, it was only obtained by relentless pursuit.

If we're honest, every single day we're pursuing something. Some chase success, others chase attention and approval. Many others spend their time pursuing inner peace and the purpose for their life. The question isn’t if we are pursuing something... the real question to ask ourselves is this: "What are we pursuing?"

Paul gave clear instruction to Timothy when he said: “Pursue righteousness.” As believers, we can't waste our strength chasing what will fade, we must relentlessly pursue what will last forever: A Christlike character, faith that trusts completely, love that gives generously, and God's gift of peace. Pursuing righteousness isn't about perfection; it’s about direction. It means following (pursuing) Jesus, even when the world tries to pull us away.

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:11

But if we're not careful, we can confuse pursuing righteousness with appearing righteous. To truly pursue righteousness, we must do two things: Let go and hold on. We must let go of our sinful desires and hold on tightly to the things of God. But relentless pursuit isn’t a solo assignment, it's actually a team sport! God's Word tells us to surround ourselves with other believers who are running their own race towards Jesus. Our Christian "teammates" are the ones who will help us stay on course when life gets hard.

Christ Follower, let's set our minds on relentlessly pursuing God's righteousness. How? Don't take your eyes off Christ, then ask God to reveal anything that isn't leading you closer to Him.

The pursuits of this world will all fade away, but the reward of pursuing righteousness will last forever!