Phillipians 3:6-9 (NLT)
6And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church. And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault. 7I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ 9and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me.

Paul was describing to the Phillipians how in his past he was zealously following Jewish law. He followed it so closely that it was difficult for anyone to accuse him of doing anything wrong. In other words he was a very strict follower of the law. Paul was so strict he began to persecute others, which so often happens when someone believes they have risen above the integrity of others. But Paul goes on to say that once he met Christ and gained the knowledge and wisdom of Him, everything else became garbage or as some translations say “dung”. Paul realized he could not count on his own goodness or his ability, but he had to trust Christ for his salvation.

Many of us have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and by doing so we have placed our faith in Him. Our sins have been redeemed by His blood and we have been justified through our faith in Him that we may be with God in heaven. As Paul said we can trust Jesus to save us. Yet some of us even after placing our trust in Christ still carry a score card with us tallying up our failures. Each time we sin down goes a mark on the card. Then when there are enough marks we start to feel bad about the things we have done, sometimes even doubting our own salvation. When Jesus reappeared to the disciples, he even asked them, “why do you doubt who I am”. Even in Matthew it says, “they worshipped him, but some of them still doubted him.” Doubt is powerful feeling and one the Satan uses against us. In Psalms when David had doubt he said, “When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.” We need to seek God in our times of doubt and ask for renewed hope and cheer. Pray that God would remove any doubt you have about your salvation. Pray for a renewed hope and cheer in your life. Ask that Christ would strengthen you and prepare you for each days journey. Give thanks for the joy of your salvation.