“Yes, I will
go further: because of the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I
count everything else as loss. For him I have accepted the loss of all other
things and look on them all as filth if only I can gain Christ and be given a
place in him, with the uprightness I have gained not from the Law, but through
faith in Christ, an uprightness from God based on faith, that I may come to
know him and the power of his resurrection and partake of his sufferings by
being molded to the pattern of his death, striving towards the goal of
resurrection from the dead” {Phil.3:8-11}.
This is one
of the scriptural passage that seems quite difficult to many believers to
accept including myself in our bid to overcome a particular predominant
fault/sin in our lives but it is the word of God which remains forever (1
Pet.1:25) and keeping his word brings about genuine living, good-health and
longevity [‘My child, pay attention to what I am telling you, listen carefully
to my words; do not let them out of your sight, keep them deep in your heart. For
they are life to those who find them and health to all humanity. More than all
else, keep watch over your heart, since here are the wellsprings of life’
Prov.4:20-23] as image of God {Gen.1:27} who share in his complete blessings (“God
saw all he had made and indeed it was very good…” Gen.1:31) and witnesses to
His Word [Jn.18:37] therefore we do not need to run about for an escape route
from one fellowship to another as many do in the search for truth (“…many will
roam about, this way and that and wickedness will continue to increase”
Dan.12:4)
rather we should remain firm with the sound but
hard doctrine (‘and he must have a firm grasp of the unchanging message of the
tradition, so that he can be counted on both for giving encouragement in sound
doctrine and for refuting those who argue against it’ Titus 1:9) of truth which
is the only thing that will set us free at the judgment {Jn.8:32}, pray and
open our whole being {soul, will-power and body} to the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit dwelling within us, who will reveal and bring its meaning to our own
level of understanding/perception thus “so this is the way in which all of us
who are mature should be thinking and if you are still thinking differently in
any way, then God has yet to make this matter clear to you” (Phil.3:15).
Do not brood
over your inability to be at the same terrain with your neighbor whether in our
quest for closer contact with God or social status rather let your hearts burn
with the desire to believe in your unique {‘I too was once a child with a
farmer, in my mother’s eyes a tender child, unique’ Prov.4:3} nature since
every human being is peculiar and has a particular divine plan to accomplish
which no other can perform {‘children you are from God and have overcome them,
because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world’ 1 Jn.4:4} and
accept the responsibilities therein [“honor God with what goods you have and
with the first-fruit of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with
corn, your vats overflowing with new wine” Prov.3:9-10] with the sufficient
Grace God has apportioned to you (‘…My Grace is enough for you: for power is at
full stretch in weakness…’ 2 Cor.12:9)
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