Philippians 3:7–8 (NKJV) — 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
What are you willing to lose to know Christ?
Paul, who had everything he could ask for in the world met Jesus! His life changed for eternity.
Paul counted everything he had as worthless because of what Christ had done. Life is forever. We will one day die a physical death. But, after physical death…life. The spirit does not die. Eternity. This life is a preparation for the next.
The focus of our love in this life shows how much we are prepared for the next. When I married all things in the past were left in the past. My focus was on my bride. The “I do’s” at the altar were not just words but commitment. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we also accept Him as our Lord. The words spoken at Salvation go far beyond this life but into eternity. Our commitment to Christ is a sell-out of earthly possessions. It is making Christ our all in all.
Paul could have lived in the lap of luxury. He commanded respect and fear. When Christ came into his life, Paul was completely washed in the blood of Jesus. There was more than a cleansing in Paul’s life, there was the death to self so Christ could live in his life. Self-centeredness was not what Paul was as a Christian. Paul was Christ centered and no longer focused on worldly desires. His goal was to bring glory to God.
There is no sin in having the best of this world. What is sin is allowing the best of this world to keep us from totally committing our lives to Him. If the things of this world keeps others from seeing Jesus in our lives, then we need to make adjustments. The prosperity Gospel in the Bible is not found in having the things of this world. It is found in a believer giving his total life to Christ.
The refrain of “Living for Jesus” reads: “O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee, For Thou, in Thy atonement, didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master, my heart shall be Thy throne; My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone.”