Living ''in Jesus,'' as God recognizes us, takes time, growth, and especially the renewal of our minds. It is only then, that we can begin to grasp what the Apostle Paul learned when he spent three years alone with God in the Arabian Desert. [See Galatians 1:17-18]

One might say it was our Lord's season with Paul. Born-again in Christ, God now recognized Paul in the Spirit as a completely new creation. The old had passed away, and he was no longer a persecutor of the church. God took this season to renew Paul's mind to who he had become. 

Finding ''surpassing worth'' in knowing Christ, as Paul did, comes as we recognize who we have become in Christ. Everything we are, what we own, what we're responsible for, and who we are accountable to, is under God's eminent domain.

With a renewed mind, Paul now realized this truth and conveyed it to the people of Philippi and us, with conviction, there is no greater victory. He daily dedicated himself to the Lord, wholeheartedly surrendering his mind, will, and emotions, to be under God's divine authority. 

 
Compared to his victories in the flesh and the material world, Paul now understood that gaining Christ was everything. Even the highest academic credentials he had received under the instruction of Gamaliel were now considered rubbish. Paul had let go of self, so the new creation he had become in Christ could take control of his entire being.

What we value the most, knowing and sharing Christ or victories in the flesh, reflects how renewed our mind has become and how much we are allowing God's Holy Spirit to control our hearts.