For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

–Parallel verses:
Philippians‬ ‭3:1-4‬a‬‬
Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

‭‭In life, we earn degrees, we work hard for promotions, we gain experience, we get qualifications; we build networks and relationships and expect to be rewarded for loyalty and excellence in what we do. Many times, it does work out this way. But what happens when there is no reward for our effort? Or worse, what happens when the reward is actually a penalty for all of the good works we have done? OUCH!

Paul dealt with this all the time and he helps us learn how to deal with this very issue. After the above passage in Philippians he listed out all of his worldly accomplishments that he used to value and seek recognition for: 1) Hebrew of Hebrews, 2) Pharisee (legal scholar), 3) Chief Enforcer of the Law (persecuted the early church), 4) Considered perfect in following the Jewish Law, without technical fault. I wonder what you or I would list? I could list my degree, my designations in insurance, my problem-solving skills, my ability to produce and deliver, my writings, my giving, my leadership positions, and my acts of service. (List your accomplishments here _). And when we get done, we really must admit that we expect to be rewarded for these. This is how the world is supposed to work. And even more than that, we really do not expect to suffer as a result of our good efforts and abilities! So when we do suffer for doing good, what do we do? I must confess, I have allowed this “earthly valuation system” to matter too much — at times, much more to me than my value in Christ. Oh, I wouldn’t say it, and didn’t want to admit it, but deep down I did. And it has recently paralyzed me and weakened my resolve in serving God and spreading the gospel. Not only is this sin itself, but it made me prone to falling back into sin in other areas.

So today, I am making a stand. A commitment in front of God and man: No more will I allow the world to determine how I value my effort. It is pride in myself and my accomplishments. It is thinking too highly of myself. I will cast these ways aside in the name of Christ. Like Paul did, I commit to sharing in the sufferings of Christ WITH JOY. I will rejoice in him more and more, all the time realizing that HE VALUES ME ETERNALLY more than this world ever could. This will safeguard me from the attacks of the world. As well, I choose today to cast off these lies this world tells me: “you’re not worth it”, “your efforts have been wasted”, “you must demand value as you serve”. I don’t need to do this! God already has set a super-high value on me (and you)! We are his children — Children of the King!

Thank you Lord for calling out my sin and redirecting my mind to your “eternal valuation system” — of me. You are all I need to work for, the only one I need to seek appreciation from, and the one whose opinion matters the most!