Nov. 16, 2008
Background Scripture: Philippians 3:3-4:9
Devotional Reading: Psalms 46

For about 20 years, Valere and I led seminars on “stress management.” After one of them, a man told us that the principles were some of the most profound and practical he had ever encountered.

Asked about their source, I replied, “Well, most of them have come from the New Testament. And they are secrets only because people often do not take them seriously.”

Paul’s letter to the Philippians, one of his briefest, might well be subtitled “Principles  of Joyful Christian Living,” and it  is particularly compelling because he wrote it from prison, hardly a setting for joy.
Joyful Christian living is not dependent upon what happens to us, but upon how we perceive and respond to what happens to us.

Paul couldn’t help being behind bars, but he had the opportunity to choose his attitude: “I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ” (1:12).

Incredibly, he saw every adversity as an opportunity to witness. So, “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice” (4:4). Not just when things are fine, but always. Joy is an attitude, not a circumstance.

It’s all trash

Paul’s religious pedigree is impressive. Still, he exclaims, “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 … I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ …” (3:5-8). Christ, above all else.

Paul’s one supreme good is “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection …” (3:10). He had been trying to achieve a right relationship with God through accomplishments, but none of these add up to what he is seeking. No matter how we compute it, our assets never add up to what is necessary for the joy of God’s grace.
So, the Christian life is not a matter of climbing a mountain so that you enjoy the view from the top. “Not that I have already obtained this or an already perfect; but I press on to make it my own.”

The Christian life is not one of becoming perfect, but pressing ever onward to perfection. And “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (3:12-14).

It’s your choice

There are two gods from which we must choose: The one is the God revealed in Jesus Christ who bids us take up our crosses and follow Him. But there are those who make another choice: “Their end is destruction, their God is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (3:19).

In the midst of the current economic crisis, I have heard an economist say that the basic cause of our distress is that we as individuals and as a nation have not learned to live within our means. Our appetite for “earthly things” is insatiable.

Life is filled with both positives and negatives. Both are real, so the only question is, on which of these we will focus your life?

Focus on the negative and your life will be negative. It is your choice and your right, so choose.

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things … and the God of peace will be with you” (4:8,9).

Those are just some of the bold-faced secrets in Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
 
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of this publication.