march 22 : Philippians 3

"If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless."
Have you ever felt like this? To look at your resume and think, "wow, I am the bomb." Even within the church we each have a resume we hold on to. Even if not intentionally we are, as leaders, adding more to our resume as we serve in church. For me, I have been a youth group leader my freshman and sophomore years, I was the missions leader at Cornerstone for 2 years, I lead a small group 2 years, I was praise leader a year, and my dad is a pastor (as if I had anything to do with that). I sometimes hold on to the things I have achieved. Academically I hold on to a few a things as well - things not worth mentioning. Very well; what does all this mean for me? Nothing. As Paul writes after he lists his accomplishments that are far far greater than mine, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, 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 is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
Everything we do we do for Christ's name sake. Never should we boast of our accomplishments. Everything we have is nothing compared to what Christ has saved us from. The greatest gift he's given us was death on a cross for the redemption of our damned souls. The love that Christ had and has to offer greatly exceeds all that we can imagine. It is more than what you think it is, it is much more than what your pastor says it is. Are you and I willing to trade everything to gain Christ? Paul sure was willing, had no regrets, and had everything to lose save his faith.