^“10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹ if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.¹² Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:10-14

Paul is writing to give an account of his own journey of faith as an example that one must put no confidence in his own achievements but must rely entirely on Christ.

This happens subsequent to Paul’s life been transformed because the grace of Jesus had taken hold of him. This is why Paul can be so emphatic in verse 10, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in his suffering.” Despite Paul’s current sufferings, Jesus had given Paul meaning and hope to live for. For Paul, faith is never static is purpose-filled even when we feel overwhelmed by current suffering. If we are not moving forward, we are moving backwards – that is why he twice emphasises the importance of ‘pressing on’, constantly striving to keep on growing in Christ. I think is worth keeping this in mind in the midst of the current COVID-19 crisis.