Week 3: The Cost of DiscipleshipExemplo

We make investments because they promise some form of a return. We don’t commit time or money to a cause unless we see it as more valuable than what we currently possess. With this in mind, why would we invest our everything into God’s kingdom? Why should we give up so much instant gratification with no reward in sight?

It’s simple, really: Jesus offers us something infinitely better. Discipleship is “costly,” yes, but what we gain makes anything we give up look like garbage.

Take Paul, for example: as a Jewish Pharisee he had respect, money, affluence, and even political power. Yet he gave it all up instantly after encountering Jesus. He traded in his comfortable home for dirty rags and lonely jail cells, and he did so gladly! Paul recognized that although it had an abundance of resources, the world could never offer him what Jesus did: newly resurrected life and purpose.

As you read this passage written by Paul, be encouraged in knowing that everything you sacrifice for the sake of Jesus is worth it. Your Lord sees your loyalty, and is faithful to reward it in ways you can’t even imagine!

Read Philippians 3:7-15

Reflection Questions

1. How is God speaking to me through these verses?
2. What does this set of verses teach me about God?
3. What does this show me about the good news of Jesus?
4. How can I apply what I read today?