Philippians 3:4–14

⁴although I could have confidence in my physical qualifications. If anyone else thinks that he can trust in something physical, I can claim even more. ⁵I was circumcised on the eighth day. I’m a descendant of Israel. I’m from the tribe of Benjamin. I’m a pure-blooded Hebrew. When it comes to following Jewish laws, I was a Pharisee. ⁶When it comes to being enthusiastic, I was a persecutor of the church. When it comes to winning God’s approval by obeying Jewish laws, I was perfect. 

⁷These things that I once considered valuable, I now consider worthless for Christ. ⁸It’s far more than that! I consider everything else worthless because I’m much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It’s because of him that I think of everything as worthless. I threw it all away in order to gain Christ ⁹and to have a relationship with him. This means that I didn’t receive God’s approval by obeying his laws. The opposite is true! I have God’s approval through faith in Christ. This is the approval that comes from God and is based on faith ¹⁰that knows Christ. Faith knows the power that his coming back to life gives and what it means to share his suffering. In this way I’m becoming like him in his death, ¹¹with the confidence that I’ll come back to life from the dead. 

¹²It’s not that I’ve already reached the goal or have already completed the course. But I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me. ¹³Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and ¹⁴I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.