1. Paul had an incredible religious "resume" (tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, blameless under the law), but he ended up calling it all skubala (rubbish/refuse) compared to knowing Christ. If you had to write down your own social, academic, or spiritual "credits"—the things you rely on to make you feel important or accepted—what would be on it? Why is it so hard to view those things as "loss" compared to Jesus?
2. We usually think of repentance as turning away from bad behavior (like lying, cheating, etc). However, Paul highlights that Christians also have to repent of their self-righteousness - the righteousness that depends on self. What is the difference between doing things like reading your Bible, praying, or going to church out of love for Jesus versus doing them to earn a "credit" with God or others?
3. We can identify idols by asking, "What statistic do I know right now without having to look it up?" (like a GPA, a sports stat, social media followers, or a bank account balance). How can the things we constantly track and measure give us a clue about what our hidden idols might be?
4. The illustration of the "invisible bag," explains how we often chop off pieces of our true selves (our real feelings, our weaknesses, or our quirks) and hide them away just to make sure parents, teachers, or friends will like us. How does knowing that you are completely covered by Jesus’ righteousness free you to stop playing a character and just be who you actually are?
5. If Jesus already knows every hidden flaw, bad habit, or secret struggle you have — and yet still loves you, how does this truth change the way you handle guilt or shame when you mess up? Does it make you want to hide from God, or run toward Him?
