…I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ… (Philippines 3:8).

As soon as we’re born, people start to clothe us.

After a few years, we learn to clothe ourselves.

I think this is how it is with identities. First others put them on us. “She’s such a good baby.”  “He comes from good stock.” “What a fussy baby.”

Then we put them on ourselves.  “I’m good/bad at schoolwork/sports/the arts.”  “I’m attractive/unattractive.”   “I’m shy/outgoing.”

Eventually the layers of clothing (identities) we wear weigh us down. We decide to weed out and discard some of them.

The ones that we keep are those that feel so comfortable we’re barely aware of them—think worn-in boots or a comfy robe. We can’t imagine letting them go. (Think always a Republican or a Democrat for instance. Always a loner or a joiner. Always superior to or inferior to others. Always an atheist, a Baptist, a Catholic, a [fill in the blank].)

Paul wore his identities proudly: his genealogy, his adherence to the Law, his status as a Pharisee zealously opposed to those he believed to be God’s enemies.

Until he didn’t. Until he was given an identity so superior to the others that he cast the old aside and let himself be clothed with the new.

Here is his story from Philippines 3:8 in The Amplified Bible. (Please read this slowly.)

…I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One).

Why cling to all those old identities when such an incredible new one beckons and embraces us?

Well, things interfere, don’t they? There’s that comfort factor we mentioned. There’s the situational factor. (These days we can feel a bit like prisoners. When Paul wrote this, he actually was a prisoner. Yet his new identity made that one irrelevant.) There’s the relational factor. (Relationships based on my old identity may be disrupted.)

These interferences need to be faced and faced down on our way to gaining Christ.

Father, I am willing to acknowledge the identities I have been wearing. Please grace me to be willing to cast them aside as You progressively clothe me with the one everlastingly amazing identity Paul describes.