(Philippians 3:8) I consider everything a loss, for nothing compares to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord.
Paul had received the highest religious education in Jerusalem. He was a Pharisee. He was the young religious star in Israel. However, everything changed when Jesus Christ appeared to him from heaven as he was walking to the city of Damascus to persecute Jesus’ followers (Acts 9).
He was transformed, and what was important to him no longer mattered. He was now the apostle Paul, called by God to go to the nations with the Gospel.
In this verse, the apostle Paul declares that he lost everything when he came to serve Jesus Christ. Actually, it is better to say that he gave up everything—his educational achievements, religious prestige, and his promising future as a leader in Jerusalem—to know Jesus Christ as his Lord.
His past successes did not compare to his new life in the kingdom of Jesus. Paul embraced persecution and imprisonment in Christ as being surpassing greater than walking to the Jerusalem temple in flowing religious robes while the people honored and praised him.
The apostle Paul was fully in. He did not have one foot in, and the other foot out.
As the apostle Paul emphasizes in this verse, when we come to fully embrace Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives, we leave what was once valuable in our lives for something far more valuable.
As Jesus tells us, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and everything we need will be given to us.” What this verse is emphasizing is that when we enter and experience the spiritual treasures of the kingdom of God in Christ, the value of many things in our lives fade away. They no longer have the attraction or importance that they once did.
The biblical order is important: We do not give up things in our life so we can earn a life in Jesus Christ, no. The truth is, when we experience a new life in Jesus Christ, what was once valuable and important in our old life just fades away.
Ask yourself: Is knowing Jesus Christ surpassing greater than your money, prestige, job, and representation?
If not, why not?