Paul's loss~Paul's gain

Phil. 3:7-10~
"But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,..."

I really like Jack Hayford's notes on these verses.
He says:
"From a prison cell in Rome, Paul pens this personal letter in which he comes to terms with an accomplished past and a confining present. After his past as a persecutor of God's people and through his "superior" religious activities as a Pharisee, Paul came to the liberating conclusion that all is rubbish compared to knowing the Lord!
Freed from the stagnation of yesterday's victories and the emotional paralysis of yesterday's mistakes, Paul knew that the only thing that ultimately counted was knowing the Lord, and being obedient to His will....Prison chains could not keep him from pursuing God, nor dull his effectiveness in ministry. Paul's desire to know Christ sprang from no other motive but to enjoy Him, He wanted Christ for Christ's sake, not his own. He was a lover of God, not a user of God. And whether he moved in Christ's resurrection power or was stretched to his last ounce of endurance, it mattered little. For Paul, it was all a part of the most fulfilling journey of all: truly knowing Christ."

The desire to know Christ was the center of Paul's universe. What if we lived like that? What if our duties were not the center of our living? What if our family and church were not our center? What if in every situation, our question was not, "What am I going to do next?", but rather, "How can I know Christ in this?" Everything we'd go through in life would have purpose and we would get to know Christ in His suffering and in His power. Like Paul, we would be lovers of God and not users of God. Oh, that we might know Him...