7 These things were my assets, but I wrote them off as a loss for the sake of Christ. 8 But even beyond that, I consider everything a loss in comparison with the superior value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for him, but what I lost I think of as sewer trash, so that I might gain Christ 9 and be found in him. In Christ I have a righteousness that is not my own and that does not come from the Law but rather from the faithfulness of Christ. It is the righteousness of God that is based on faith. 10 The righteousness that I have comes from knowing Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the participation in his sufferings. It includes being conformed to his death 11 so that I may perhaps reach the goal of the resurrection of the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11, CEB)
The portion of Philippians right before this is where Paul lays out his lineage and all the things as a Jew he can brag in, the proper lineage and tribe, blameless under the law. But all of this is garbage, trash because it is only the fact that Christ came and died and made a way that we are acceptable.
And only our conforming to Christ’s death may we obtain the goal of eternal life. This is made possible by the baby born in the manger, that is faithful to the plan to go to the cross.
Know you will never make it on your own, but don’t let that weigh you down in fear. Know the hope we have in Christ and live in that.