My Daily Devotion: Philippians 3:1-14

Scripture:
Philippians 3:1-14

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 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 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Reflection:
- What does 'knowing Christ' mean? To me, it means that Christ suffered and died for my sins, and was resurrected as proof that He lives in every believer.
- Nothing in this world--money, riches, or fame--can equal the opporunity of knowing that Christ died for my sins to save me from destruction. Whatever gains that I have right now is useless in the eyes of God.
- Things that we have gained and will gain are nothing compared to the opportunity of knowing and believing in Christ.

Application:
- Mark 8:36 >> What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? A reminder that without Christ, I am nothing.
- Continue to walk in faith so that I may gain a God-given righteousness that comes only from Jesus.