But 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. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Philippians 3:7-9 ESV

A Hebrew of Hebrews. An Israelite by birth, circumcised in the flesh long before in his heart. A Pharisee turned defector who held such zeal for the law that he persecuted the very ones he would come to call brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul had much to boast in and of himself. He stated that he was blameless under the law. Yet after understanding what true righteousness meant, which only comes through faith in Christ, he counted it all loss. For every bit of the law that he recalled, it paled in comparison to knowing the One who fulfilled the law and the words of the prophets.

Knowing Christ became paramount to Paul. Gaining Christ surpassed all else, so much so that Paul went so far as to say that suffering the loss of those things he once esteemed as part of his identity were counted as rubbish. Rubbish. Do we understand what that even means? Do we dare consider those things we hold so dear, the titles, the accolades of man and any temporal blessing as rubbish in comparison to truly personally knowing Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior?

According to The Complete Word Study Dictionary, the Greek word for rubbish means “what is thrown to the dogs, refuse, what is thrown away as worthless.” It can also be translated as meaning dung or manure. Paul suffered the loss in what would appear to even many today as the opposite of worthless but rather treasure. High status among men and great knowledge and education are valued and revered or even coveted. Zeal in our beliefs is viewed as a mark of great spiritual understanding. Yet Paul viewed his training in the law, his natural birthright as a Hebrew, and his zeal and his status as a Pharisee as worthless. It was all manure. It was all garbage to be thrown away as refuse when weighed in the balance in knowing Christ and understanding true righteousness. Paul thought he understood righteousness without Jesus Christ, but once he understood the truth, nothing else mattered but faith in Christ and to be found in His righteousness by that faith in Him.

You and I can learn so much from counting it all as rubbish, as worthless, as manure. We have much in our lives which we could consider to be thrown to the dogs. If we were honest, we could make a giant garbage heap. We could fertilize vast areas with the amount of manure from our lives, our understanding, our education, our titles, our zeal. We could make landfills with our self righteousness. Yet God sent His Son to atone for our sins so that we could be clothed in His righteousness and be justified before the Father. When we begin to look upon our own lives and to consider all gain as loss for the sake of truly knowing Christ and having faith in Him to save us from the wrath of God, we will gladly say as Paul did that we count it all as rubbish in order to gain Christ.

As you think upon this passage today, what is the rubbish in your life that you gladly consider worthless? Head knowledge means nothing without Christ. Titles mean nothing without Christ. Zeal means nothing without Christ. Put your faith in Jesus Christ, fore this is where you and I will find true righteousness. Consider all else rubbish for the sake of knowing Him and being known by Him.

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