But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. Philippians 3:7
When you think about the things you have achieved in life, which are you most proud of? I grew up in a household that was sometimes quick to call out pride and label it as unhealthy. Sometimes I think that was helpful. In other instances, I am not sure it was.
The thing about our pride, or in this case our identity and the confidence that comes from it, is that unless it is built on what God says about us, it is likely to change. As my father has repeated to me several times, “If God didn’t make it, it isn’t going to last forever.” There’s truth in that. We need something to put our trust in to find comfort. If we are not careful where we put our trust and our identity, it can feel like shifting sand.
Paul feels this way as he’s writing to the Philippians. “If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more…” he says. Back in his day, the best thing he could do was to go all in on the religious customs requested through the law and hope that it was enough, but that didn’t last very long.
Enter Jesus. Enter the one who supersedes the law and redefines where our salvation and our identity truly come from. Once Paul got a taste of life with his Savior, he knew there was no turning back. Not because he was able to justify himself through various religious customs, but because Jesus was simply more of everything that he wanted. The result? The things he was most proud of for years suddenly became rubbish. Or as he said in today’s reading, he “counts them all as loss.”
May we experience the presence and salvation God brings through Jesus Christ in this same way in the days and weeks to come.
Questions for reflection:
- What aspects of your life are you most proud of?
- Does this feel like healthy or unhealthy pride?
- What kind of a religious experience would you have to have with Jesus to leave you saying you count all of these things as a loss when compared to what you have with God?