Editorial May 1, 1989 Issue

Lost and found

Ann Kenrick

Life to many people seems characterized by loss. They may have experienced the loss of a secure home or job. Losses come in other ways too; loss of self-esteem, of honesty, and so of peace of mind. Yet loss can often be the very thing that rouses people to change their thinking about themselves. When a mistakenly based sense of self-respect is shattered, an individual may begin the search for a deeper purpose in life, which can lead him to understand man's true sinless nature as God's child.

Saul of Tarsus, for instance, who was as careful of observing the Hebrew law as any other Pharisee, zealously persecuted the followers of Christ. He believed he was acting in accord with the law, but when he awoke to Christ his whole outlook changed. He experienced a loss of pride and position. But it opened the way to his finding a new selfhood and purpose, as the Apostle Paul, in obedience to God.

Speaking of this experience later, he wrote: "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. ... I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."^{Phil. 3:7, 8.}

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