Philippians 3:3-8
All the right stuff
For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised 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; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More 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
I am reminded of the scripture passage of a man who comes to Jesus saying he does all that is prescribed by the law and asks what more does he need to do to acheive salvation? The man goes away disheartened when Jesus tells him to give away everything he owns.
What is it that we "own"? What is it that gives us confidence?
First, we own nothing if you really think about it. Forget about money, job, title, station in life, breeding, culture, dress , cars (that one's for me), what schools we went to, who our parents were or our ancestors were and what church we belong to or who we know. And most especially, we do not own our spouse or our kids. We may have been graced with the 'task' of loving them or raising them by God but we own absolutely nothing. It can all be gone in the blink of an eye. Then, sadly, only then, perhaps will we realize what is important and that we truly own nothing. The rest are games we play, adult versions of childhood games.
So, cut to the core, stripped of everything we may think of as important, what is it that we can have confidence in? What can we boast of or be assured of?
I think you can hold your head up high because God says you are worthy just by your naked little self. Not in a sexual way, but there in your birthday suit, standing in your bedroom in the dark (or light), is the creation that God thought precious enough, perfect enough, to grace the world with. The person God places in everyone else's way each day to grace his other beautiful creations. The world is a showplace of God's creations. That, you can take to the bank. Be proud of who you are.
Secondly, as part of that, know that God loves you and wishes to carry on a relationship with you. Have confidence in that. Imagine yourself as the one hearing God say, "wax on, wax off". He is our creator, our nurturer, our lover so to speak, and we should stand with our heads high for that. Not for any of the myriad reasons we come up with as a worldly being. Our bodies belong to this world, the world gives a reference to our actions and a means to grow but they are vessels of a transcendent being - our souls - that's the right stuff.
I am reminded of the scripture passage of a man who comes to Jesus saying he does all that is prescribed by the law and asks what more does he need to do to acheive salvation? The man goes away disheartened when Jesus tells him to give away everything he owns.
What is it that we "own"? What is it that gives us confidence?
First, we own nothing if you really think about it. Forget about money, job, title, station in life, breeding, culture, dress , cars (that one's for me), what schools we went to, who our parents were or our ancestors were and what church we belong to or who we know. And most especially, we do not own our spouse or our kids. We may have been graced with the 'task' of loving them or raising them by God but we own absolutely nothing. It can all be gone in the blink of an eye. Then, sadly, only then, perhaps will we realize what is important and that we truly own nothing. The rest are games we play, adult versions of childhood games.
So, cut to the core, stripped of everything we may think of as important, what is it that we can have confidence in? What can we boast of or be assured of?
I think you can hold your head up high because God says you are worthy just by your naked little self. Not in a sexual way, but there in your birthday suit, standing in your bedroom in the dark (or light), is the creation that God thought precious enough, perfect enough, to grace the world with. The person God places in everyone else's way each day to grace his other beautiful creations. The world is a showplace of God's creations. That, you can take to the bank. Be proud of who you are.
Secondly, as part of that, know that God loves you and wishes to carry on a relationship with you. Have confidence in that. Imagine yourself as the one hearing God say, "wax on, wax off". He is our creator, our nurturer, our lover so to speak, and we should stand with our heads high for that. Not for any of the myriad reasons we come up with as a worldly being. Our bodies belong to this world, the world gives a reference to our actions and a means to grow but they are vessels of a transcendent being - our souls - that's the right stuff.
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