Knowing Christ

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” -Philippians 3:7-9

To understand the context of these verses, we need to look at the verses that immediately precede them, verses 4-6. Here, Paul gives a list of his notable attributes that would have made anybody proud in his day. Included in this list are things like where Paul was from, as well as his profession. Paul, too, used to take extreme pride in these accomplishments and found his confidence within them, but as he writes this letter to the Philippians, his perspective has clearly changed. In verses 7-9, we see that Paul no longer places his confidence in his fleshly achievements described in verses 4-6, but rather finds his true identity in Christ.

Perhaps we have a tendency to place our identity in our job, sport, accomplishments, who we know, etc. However, as a result of the quarantine that we are all experiencing, many of these outward circumstances have significantly changed. Whether it be a job loss or a cancelled sports season, if it something that we are used to finding our confidence and identity in, but then it is taken away due to the pandemic, we can find ourselves searching.

However, Paul is here describing all of these outer things as no better than “garbage” when they are compared to the value of knowing Christ. He reminds us that rather than the pursuit of worldly titles and recognition, our truest fulfillment will only come through a wholehearted pursuit to know our Savior. Our relationship with Him can never be quarantined or socially distanced from us, making it the firmest foundation we can find.

In what do you place your confidence? We are finding these days just how temporary are the worldly treasures that we hold so dear. I encourage you to make knowing Christ the number one priority in your life. As you look at the different things that you involve yourself in, have the courage to label as “garbage” anything that does not promote your relationship with Him. May knowing Christ be our singular focus in everything that we do, and may all other pursuits take a backseat to gaining Him. We will find, as Paul clearly describes, that this is of “surpassing worth!”

Jacob McConnell, Junior, Men’s Golf, from Wooster, Ohio