📖 “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” — Philippians 3:10-11

💭 A Pause to Reflect

Today, while reading Philippians 3:13-14, I was deeply moved and stopped at one specific word Paul uses: Goal. What exactly was the Apostle Paul’s ultimate goal? As I meditated on this, my thoughts were drawn back to the preceding verses (10 and 11). In these verses, Paul beautifully depicts his deepest desire to know Christ in four distinct ways:

⚡ 1. To Experience the Power of His Resurrection

Paul wanted to experience this mighty power in his life—not for his own fame, but for the benefit of others. Because he was completely dedicated to the Lord’s ministry, he needed this resurrection power to reach the lost with the Good News, resulting in many miracles and transformed lives.

(📖 Read more on experiencing God’s power and protection in daily life: The Lord Will Indeed Give What Is Good | Let Not Man Prevail Against Thee | Enlightened Hearts: Living in Hope, Identity, and Power)

✝️ 2. To Participate in His Sufferings

Following Jesus is not always a comfortable path. Paul actively desired to share in Christ’s sufferings. As he mentions many times throughout his epistles, he endured immense persecution, beatings, and trials for the Lord to fulfill his calling.

Suffering and trials are unavoidable in our daily lives, whether you are in full-time ministry or working a secular job. Yet, it is through these very trials that God sanctifies us and elevates us to the next level. As an IT professional, whenever I have faced intense pressure, the Lord has used those situations for my growth.

I remember a time when I was tasked with completing a critical client project within just 10 business days. The technology was completely new to me; I had absolutely no prior experience with it. I spent days and nights in the office, learning and developing simultaneously. It was a severe trial that even caused a temporary strain on my family, as I couldn’t be fully present with them during those days. But after a few weeks, by God’s grace, I completed the entire project single-handedly, as there was no adjacent team to help me.

Looking back now, I can clearly see how the Lord used that stressful trial to uphold my position in the company. My reputation peaked, and that project is still considered a benchmark for the current team. When I think about this, I ask myself: Did I deserve this? I didn’t have that specific talent beforehand—it came to me in that exact moment purely by the abundant grace of the Lord.

(📖 Read more on how God uses our trials: Through Fire and Water: How God Used Trials to Give Me Victory Over Sin | The Lord Will Work Out His Plans for My Life (Psalm 138:8))

⚰️ 3. To Become Like Him in His Death

This was both spiritual and physical. Spiritually, Paul had to die to his old life—his zealous adherence to Jewish traditions, the strictness of the law, and his own self-righteousness. Physically, he ultimately surrendered his life as a martyr for Christ after faithfully finishing his race.

In my personal walk, there was a season where I was struggling with a particular thought pattern that was inappropriate and displeasing to the Lord. I desperately prayed for help, and the Holy Spirit led me to this verse:

“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” — Galatians 5:24 (NKJV)

I continually prayed using this verse, and through it, I was able to overcome that struggle. The ultimate aim of becoming like Him in His death is dying to our flesh—whether that is worldly lust, or the pride we take in our knowledge, our human wisdom, our family, or our status.

🌅 4. To Attain the Resurrection from the Dead

This is the glorious hope! Paul knew that, ultimately, he would rise from the dead with Christ in the end times. He believed that the Lord had prepared a glorious, eternal reward in the next life that would far compensate for any temporary sufferings experienced on earth.

❤️ The Core Desire: Becoming Like Christ

But the core part of his desire that truly pierced my heart today was this: Paul simply wanted to be like Christ. He wanted to live like Jesus in this world and the next. Because of this surpassing goal, he looked at his vast earthly knowledge, his elite wisdom, his high status, and his prestigious position, and he considered all of it as mere “garbage” (Philippians 3:7-8).

🌍 A Question for Our Hearts Today

Sometimes, we look at what we have in this world and treat it as incredibly precious. We hold tightly to our education, our human wisdom, our social status, our wealth, and our earthly comforts.

But if our true goal is becoming like Christ—if we truly want to reflect Jesus in our daily lives—we may need to sacrifice our attachment to these things. We cannot consider worldly achievements as the most important things in our lives. To gain Christ, we must be willing to let go of the world.

🙏 Prayer: Lord, help us to have the heart of Paul. Help us to see the things of this world clearly, so that our ultimate, unending goal is simply to know You, to love You, and to reflect You to the world around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.