Philippians 3:4b-14 (NRSV)
Read Philippians 3:4b-14 on biblegateway.com
Verse 4even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: Verse 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; Verse 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Verse 7Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. Verse 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Verse 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. Verse 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, Verse 11if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Verse 12Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Verse 13Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, Verse 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Devotion
In high school and college, I didn't like the apostle Paul. I heard his words in arrogant tones: "If anyone else has reason to be confident ... , I have more." But a seminary professor helped me read more perceptively. Paul isn't boasting of his own achievements; he's saying that no matter how successful he was by human standards, it's all garbage (actually, he uses a less polite word) compared to the value of life in Christ. He determines to leave the past behind and move forward in the new life to which God has called him.
I wonder, too, if Paul had to learn to lay aside the guilt of past sins—above all, his zeal in persecuting Christ's church. Who hasn't had difficulty letting go of guilt and trusting God's and others' forgiveness—and maybe even our own?
"Forgetting what lies behind ... , I press on toward the goal ... of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." What if we let Paul's words be ours too?
Prayer
Christ Jesus, please help me leave in the past anything for which I might boast, and guilt for sins you have already forgiven. I want to press forward to know you and the power of your resurrection more deeply every day. Amen.