Monday Motivational - Count Everything as Loss

                                                             ​Monday Motivational – Count Everything as Loss
 
     Welcome to another Monday Motivational! I hope that you had a great time last week and that you are preparing to have an even better time this week! Over the past few weeks my day to day happenings have been progressively more enjoyable, which is slightly ironic because my days have been stretched out with different activities each night and my nights have become almost nonexistent with minimum sleep being had. The past month or so I have been alternating my Mondays with Job Fairs for Camp and “boys night” (an excuse for a group of friends to get together every week), my Tuesdays have been filled with soccer practice (I get to coach an amazing group of kids at Sevier Heights), every Wednesdays I get to lead the youth at The Church in The Valley in a bible study, on Thursdays I get to be a part of a men’s bible study that has been insanely encouraging to me and continues to grow, twice a month on Fridays I get the chance to lead our Camp bible study and through preparing, teaching, and engaging with our staff that come to that I have been tremendously blessed! If you asked me to describe my ideal week I probably would not have put any two of these things together in one week, but luckily for me God has placed all of these activities into my life! And that brings to our topic for this weeks Monday Motivational.
 
     You could probably tell by reading the past few Monday Motivationals that I have been very influenced by the writings of Paul. This week we are going to look into what he says to the saints in Philippi in Philippians chapter 3. Paul gives us a list of reasons why his life was perfect from the outside looking in. He says “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”(3:4-6). Here Paul is showing how he relates to the people who place their confidence in the flesh. He states that he is of God’s chosen people(the Israelites), of a well known and respected tribe(tribe of Benjamin), a part of a well educated group(the Pharisees), a man with purpose and mission(persecutor of the church), and by the standards of the law he was blameless. In Paul’s time these credentials were more than enough for him to be a well respected and revered man, but don’t stop reading the scripture there. He continues to explain how none of that compares to the worth of knowing Christ.
 
     Picking up in verse 7 we read “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith”(3:7-9). Paul was a man who had it all seemingly, but once he gained a true understanding of who Christ was he realized that all of it was “rubbish” in comparison to knowing Christ as his Lord. How often do we caught up on things of this world that show those around us how special or important we are like status, heritage, occupation, deeds, etc.?
 
     I shared with you earlier what my life has been like the past few months to let you know that even if what we are doing has good intentions behind it we can still be missing the point of why we do it. Does God want me to be involved in all of these different ministries and activities? Maybe. Are they good ministries and activities to be involved in? Yes. However, they are all just gains that I have confined to this world. If I am not using my involvement in these things to bring God glory than I might as well not be involved in them. If I am not taking time to intentionally share the surpassing worth of knowing Christ as my Lord with the people around me in these activities I am wasting my time and the time others involved. All of these great things that I get to be a part of are worthless in comparison to knowing Christ as my Lord. It is my job to make sure I live that truth out by telling others about how Christ can be and wants to be their Lord also.
 
     Are there things going on in your life that need to be placed in perspective of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ as Lord? What worldly status, role, or activity are you a part of that has become more important to you than the redemptive power of knowing Christ as your personal Lord? Throughout this week take time to put things in perspective by lining them up with who Christ is. If doing this does not make everything else seem worthless in comparison, maybe you need to do some self reflecting and figure out why. The gift we have been given by Christ on the cross is so much better than any activity, gathering, or feeling we can find in this world! Let’s start living that way!
 
Happy Monday!