The Great Trade

Philippians 3:7 says, "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ."

John Calvin says that before we have Christ we esteem to things that we had gained, but "so soon as Christ shines forth all those things that formerly dazzled our eyes with a false splendor instantly vanish." The thing that we wanted, desired, and worked towards before seeing Christ are no longer what life is about. We see things in a different light now, the light of Christ

Another translation for the word "loss" here is "damage". When we hold on to things we damage the sake of Christ, in our own lives and in our impact on others. The thing we need to do is realize that the things we aspire to and hope for can get in the way of Christ. We should desire only Jesus. Not Jesus and...

It isn't bad to enjoy the gifts of God, but to pursue the gifts instead of the Giver is ridiculous. We need to pursue Christ and be satisfied. He is all we need.