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)
What really counts to you right now? I could ask that question another way by saying, what really matters to you right now?
Counting Is How We Determine Value
See, to ask “What counts to you right now?” is using a metaphor—counting. That may seem painfully obvious, but stick with me. When we count, we add one thing to another until we have calculated the value of what we have. When we count money, for example, we are trying to arrive at what it’s worth.
So, when I ask, “What really counts to you right now?” I am really asking, “What is worth a lot to you right now? What is valuable to you right now?”
Is it a number in the bank? Number of kids? Number of degrees? Number of likes? Number of friends? Number of days you work out in a week? Number of pounds you can bench press? Number of wins? Number of promotions? Number on your mortgage? Number of trophies? Number of books written? Number of A+’s? Number on the scale?
It is these numbers that we look to for worth, seeing them as symbols of our success, estimations of our value. We see them as reasons to feel valued or even as reasons to be loved by God or by others.
What Really Counted to the Apostle Paul
Philippians 3:7-9 begs us to pause and consider what we are counting. Hear the perspective that the Holy Spirit gave us through the Apostle Paul: “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” (Philippians 3:7-8 ESV).
Paul had genuine gains. He had reason to boast (Philippians 3:4-6)! But he stopped counting. True value, he says, does not come from his successes, experience, education, or talents. The greatest treasure in life is “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Life, true life, is not precious because of our possessions—be they material or immaterial possessions or accomplishments. Life is precious because of the person of Jesus. He is our greatest treasure.
When we find Jesus to be the treasure, we stop counting. We stop measuring our worth and our life by other things. In fact, we throw those other things in the garbage; they lose their value to us in light of the ultimate value of Christ.
What Will Count for You Today?
What are you counting? What counts to you? Does something count to you more than the precious treasure of knowing Jesus Christ and living in joyful relationship with him?
Perhaps you don’t know Jesus. Jesus knows you, and he considers you very precious. Jesus is God, come to be with us in the flesh (John 1:14). He lived the life of obedience to God that we could not. He suffered death on a cross as the punishment we deserved for our sins (1 Peter 3:18). He rose from the dead to give us the life we long for and cannot obtain. Jesus says that he did all this “for the joy set before him”—the joy of fellowship with you, and the joy of seeing you find ultimate joy in him (Hebrews 12:2).
Ask Jesus today to help you see him as the treasure he is. Ask him to help you count his worth. And when you do, you’ll quickly “throw away” what you were counting before as incomparable to the treasure you have in Jesus.
For “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:44 NIV).