Loving God With All Your Heart预览

The love of Jesus changes your perspective on life completely

“Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:7-8)

Before Paul came to know the Lord Jesus, his life seemed flawless. He himself thought there was nothing wrong with him, as did those around him. Paul was proud to be a Jew, had a good religious education and was “as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” This was what his life revolved around.

But all this changed dramatically when Paul came to know the Lord Jesus. That relationship proved so valuable that everything else paled in comparison. Indeed, he began to see that his self-esteem was unjustified. In God's eyes, Paul's righteousness fell short. Looking back on his old life, he describes himself as “a blasphemer, persecutor and insolent opponent ... the foremost of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:13, 16). But by God's grace, Paul was allowed to begin anew. He developed a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. He became a new person. Henceforth, his whole life was focused on making the good news of God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ known throughout the world. He no longer cared whether someone was Jewish or Gentile, whether someone was high or low on the social ladder. From now on, all that mattered to Paul was: does this person know Jesus Christ yet?

Do you think that is most important too, or do you focus to other things first?