Phil 3:8 GNB
Not only those things; I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ
“For Christ’s sake…” Anything that you cannot do or do away with ‘for Christ’s sake’ will hinder you from gaining Him.
That phrase is something that the Spirit of God must engrave in our hearts and minds. It is something we must carry about as we go about all our endeavors in this world.
For Christ’s sake is a reminder of what He did for us; how much he gave for us to have a place with God. It is a reminder of His suffering for our sins and His death that brought us life. It is a reminder of what one man who was not deserving of death did for all mankind so that they will not perish eternally.
It is comparing what He did and did not do to what we want to do or not do. When we weigh the two we realize He did more and for that reason we relent of our ways. Supposing a brother had offended you and is not repentant. You may feel like dealing with him quite harshly because you are in a position to do so. But when “For Christ’s sake…forgive” comes to your mind, all your steam is lost if you really love Jesus. You will realize how much he has forgiven you and the insignificance of what the brother is doing compared to what you did to the Lord.
This same principle is what helps us to deny self, the world and all things that are contrary to the will and ways of God. If this words are deeply engraved in us, we will not hold in esteem things that God does not consider valuable. Anything that will stand in the way of being in God’s good book will be done away with simply at the remembrance of that phrase. Those who really love the Lord will not struggle to release ‘the thing in hand’ no matter how valuable or dear it may be because compared to the preciousness of possessing Christ it is worthless.
Possessing Christ is about being in tune with Him; being in an unbroken communion with Him; walking with Him without any barriers. It is about maintaining a conscience without offence before the Lord. Possessing Christ is that we are not ‘holding’ anything else apart from Him. Our confidence and trust before God is not in anything else (our own efforts) other than what Christ has done for us.
So, you realize that whatever you will not let go ‘for Christ’s own sake’ will hinder you from gaining Him.