The apostle to the Gentiles, Day 3

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

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.

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. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Phillippians 3:3-11)

If you looked at Paul from a religious perspective, then you'd see the perfect minister. Any Israelite of that day would've envied Paul and probably assumed he was a very holy man just by his pedigree. it would be the equivalent of growing up in church, having Billy Graham for your dad, getting straight As in seminary, never getting in trouble and always knowing the right answers in church. Paul basically had all of that going for him, but he saw it as useless. In other words, none of that stuff changed him. It was his relationship with Jesus that mattered, not his polished reputation. Anyone can think you're holy, but what matters is that you really know Jesus.

Read verses 7 through 10 again.
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. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Try to understand Paul's heart as he wrote that.

Do you feel the way Paul felt?

Ask God to help you truly know him.