Philippians 3:7-11
A passage with radiant description of the Christian life
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard 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 one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Many have called the Christian life difficult, and indeed, loving with everything we have is hardly described by “difficult”. Yet, this is the minimum expectation, since God’s grace affords us so much more than only our will can. The question remains, what is a fallen creature to do to make this happen at all times, in all circumstances, no matter how difficult? In truth, even where healing is concerned, we often fail to receive the grace of God and to will even our own salvation, which ipso facto means we have failed in loving God, others, and/or ourselves. In this passage, it seems we see something of an answer i.e. the “how” of becoming willing to live a life in Christ, the nature of conversion, the necessity/meaning of suffering and accepting it, and something of how a Christian ought to regard anything else than Christ as lesser than Christ.