No Regrets

 

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.

 

Philippians 3:8–9

 

Jesus Christ is the sum and substance of all good living, and Paul had discovered this firsthand. He had come to know that nothing is quite as good as knowing and living with Jesus. That's why he let go of everything that might hinder a deeper intimacy with his Lord. What Paul gained so far outweighed what he gave up that he was able to consider his losses as comparatively worthless.

 

But it is only when we consider all that Paul gave up—prestige, power, authority, friends, the comforts in life, and eventually, his very own life—that we get the full picture of just how valuable a relationship with Christ really is. Are we willing to do what Paul did, even, if need be, at the price of friends or family or personal comfort?

 

Paul was able because the riches of knowing Christ were so much more enjoyable and worth having than anything he had left behind. Most of us are familiar with martyr Jim Elliot's words: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim knew what Paul knew and what we can know too—that those who leave precious things to follow Christ will have no regrets.