“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” …. “I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”
Philippians 3: 7-8
Have you noticed that the world’s economy is constructed entirely on winning? From an early age we are encouraged to be number one, to be the best, to win. When we become Christians, it is important to understand that God’s economy is not like the world’s economy. God’s economy operates according to his divine precepts. In God’s economy believer’s gain by losing. When God called Abraham to leave his homeland and go to a land that he would show him, he was asking Abraham to lose in order to gain. Abraham had to leave everything he knew, with nothing but a promise to lean on. Other heroes in the Bible follow the same path. They gain by losing.
Today God extends the same proposal to each believer. God calls us to leave the attractions of this world; he calls believers to turn their backs on all those things that the world considers valuable. God calls believers to surrender all, to lose everything, in order to gain eternal life with him. He calls believers to be like the apostle Paul who says in Philippians 3:7 “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” Paul goes on to add in verse 8, “I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”
Beloved, Jesus himself set the tone for how we ought to live. He left everything. He left the glories of heaven to live among us sinners. He was betrayed, ridiculed, and crucified. On the surface it seemed as though Jesus had lost; however, the resurrection tells us a different story. Jesus gained by losing his life. Jesus gained victory over sin and death, a prize for everyone who believes in him. And just as he called Abraham, he calls you and I to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him with nothing but a promise (Matthew 6:33).
Are you willing to lose, that you might gain? Are you willing to lay down all the world’s trophies-money, fame, power etc. that you may gain Christ?