Philippians 3:4b-14
[Paul writes:] 4b If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
“… I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord …”
We recently watched the new movie about the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. While a bit stylized, it did make the point that the great German theologian pastor was willing to give up everything for the sake of the Gospel. This included his own deeply ingrained value as a pacifist which began when he was a child.
It got me thinking. What deeply held values would I be willing to give up for the sake of knowing Christ? After all, all of us hold them. Many, like Bonhoeffer’s, were ingrained in us from childhood. Some were taught to us by our parents or by significant mentors and teachers. Others developed over time as we journeyed through life. Which of these would you surrender in order to know Christ better – more fully?
Paul, of course, goes to the extreme. He’d give up everything, considering it as rubbish, when compared to knowing Christ. Would you? How far would you go? How much would you give up in order to grow in your relationship with Jesus? Certainly, each one of us must personally answer the question. But it is a good one.
Prayer: Jesus, you are Lord of our lives and our desire is to know You better. Show me what I must give up for that to happen and give me the courage and strength to take that step. Amen.