Learning to Know What Counts and What Doesn’t

In review of Philippians 3:8a it say, “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Bottom Line:

Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.

What this means to me:

Everything else in this life is worthless when compared with the priceless value of knowing, Christ Jesus my Lord.

It makes sense for me to remind myself daily what counts and what doesn’t. If I don’t I can be easily distracted by what is inconsequential and petty.

This is important, because even the smallest irritation can cause me to lose my joy. Somebody cuts me off in the middle of the road when you’re trying to make a turn, the clothes I put on don’t fit anymore. It’s often the little things that can affect me the most, and yet in reality they don’t really matter.

Paul said in Philippians 3:7a, “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done” (NLT).

Before I became a disciple of Christ, there were a lot of things I considered important.  Today’s I’m reminded of what Paul said, “all those things don’t matter anymore compared to the joy of knowing Jesus.”

The trap that’s going to keep me from developing this habit is today's culture. Every day there are thousands of advertising messages that say, “You aren’t worth anything until you’ve got our product.” Even television news makes every item sound like it’s the most important thing of the day. It’s not! Nothing is as worthless as yesterday’s newspaper. Just because it’s urgent and immediate does not necessarily translate it to being important.

I should ask myself about everything: How much will this matter in 100 years? How much of what I’m worrying about right now is going to matter tomorrow? It’s probably not going to matter tomorrow, much less for eternity. You need to live in light of eternity.

Our culture is on a trivial pursuit. People are living for things that don’t really matter. So to be counter culture, you’ve got to focus not on what’s current but what’s eternal. When you live in light of eternity, you realize that the small things you’re worrying about aren’t going to matter in eternity, and instead of stressing out, I can be a happier person.

“Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8a). Each day, I should keep in mind and remember what matters most.