“More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3: 8 CSB)
Knowing Jesus and living for Him brings us much better rewards than setting on eyes on earthly things (Reasons Why We Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
What we are going for here is more than just a head knowledge. We can’t just know that Jesus lived as a man. We have to know that he came to redeem us. We have to understand all of the churchy words: propitiation, justification, salvation, regeneration, sanctification, etc. (Reasons Why We Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
It doesn’t matter what we know or not know. What matters is that we know the One Who is all-knowing (Reasons Why We Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
Knowing Christ and striving to imitate Him produces His character in us. That means we see ourselves as we really are. We don’t think our way is the only way of thinking (Reasons Why We Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
That means we see others as they are. We don’t see them as second-class citizens. We fulfill the second greatest commandment. (Reasons Why We Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
We said we can be obedient and give what God asks of us because everything pales to knowing Jesus (Reasons Why We Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
Everything pales to knowing Jesus. Because of that, disciples of Christ count everything as loss. However, it shouldn’t be about what we lose when we ABCD. What we gain is so much more than we give up (Why God Calls Us to Give Up Everything).
We gain knowledge. It is heart knowledge over head knowledge. We need to intimately know Jesus as God and as Man. We need to personally know the benefits of salvation: justification, adoption, sanctification, and eternal life (Why God Calls Us to Give Up Everything).
If we do not make the knowledge heart knowledge, we have not admitted our sins and are still separated from God (Why God Calls Us to Give Up Everything).
In order to grow our relationship with Jesus, we have to put value on Him. We do that by valuing His sacrifice. When we do, we are adopted by God into His family (Comprehending Christ’s Purpose).
That is just another way to say we need heart knowledge, not head knowledge — but with a twist. We have been saying heart knowledge is believing, not just knowing. We can’t just do a surface know. Instead, we have to get down to the root (Comprehending Christ’s Purpose).
Once we get that knowledge, we begin to value Jesus and what He did (Comprehending Christ’s Purpose).
I think Paul was saying everything else was a lower priority. We have to prioritize our relationship with God because that shows we place value on it. Everything else is less important (Comprehending Christ’s Purpose).
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