Monday, December 3, 2018: Philippians 3:8
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.
Paul knew the freedom of the Lord and the joy that it brings. Looking back on his legalistic lifestyle in Judaism, Paul realized that it meant absolutely nothing in comparison to knowing God as a follower of Christ. Salvation is not about what we can do for God, but what God has already done for us in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. A right relationship with God comes at His initiative through faith in Christ. We do not have to be perfect in this life; we can put the past behind us.
When God looks at those who have trusted in His Son for salvation, He sees them as having Christ’s righteousness, not their own. Knowing Christ begins with faith, but there’s more. It involves a growing and personal relationship with Him that shapes our entire outlook on life. We become spiritually stagnant when we let things like our good works fool us into thinking we don’t need to grow in Christ. We also become spiritually stagnant when we assume we can’t mature in our faith because of our past failures. On the other hand, when we find our joy in Jesus, we are not chained by the weight of pleasing God—we are freed by knowing that God is perfectly pleased in us.
- How has your life changed since you came to know Christ?
- How has that change given you freedom?
Praise God for being a God who changes lives.