But these very things
    which were profit to me, 
these
   I have reckoned
          for the sake of Christ
     loss. 

But 
more
than that
   I reckon 
all things
   to be loss
          for the sake of the surpassing worth
of  knowledge of  Christ Jesus,
                                      my Lord. 
        for his sake
               I have (willingly) lost all things
               and I reckon them garbage,
   in order that I might gain Christ
   that is be found in him, 
             not having
                 of my own
               a righteousness from the Torah
                but
                    through faith in Christ, 
               the righteousness from God 
           by faith. 
    so that I may know him
that is  the power of his resurrection
              and the sharing of his sufferings
being shaped like him,
      in  his death
if in some way
I may reach the resurrection out from the dead people. 

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

Although I myself also  have confidence in the flesh:
if someone thinks they have confidence in the flesh
I have even more… 

…by circumcision – an eight-dayer
genetically from Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew from Hebrews

in regards to the Torah – a Pharisee, 
in regards to zeal, persecuting the Church
in regards to righteousness in the Torah, being faultless. 

But these things which were profit to me, 
I have reckoned them 
because of Christ
loss.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

Look out for the dogs,
Look out for the workers who do evil
Look out for those who make incisions 

For we are the circumcision,
-those who worship by the Spirit of God,
    and boast in Christ Jesus
and have no confidence in the flesh. 

Although I myself also  have confidence in the flesh:
if someone thinks they have confidence in the flesh
I have even more…

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

Further, 
my sisters/brothers
rejoice in the Lord. 

To write the same things to you all
is not a something to hesitate over
but something to safeguard you.

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

But I have considered it necessary to send to you
Epaphroditus, 
my brother, 
my fellow worker
and my fellow soldier, 
and
your messenger
and (your) minister of my need.

For he was longing for you all
and distressed
because
you heard that he was sick. 
For he was sick near to death.
But God had mercy on him, 
and not only on him
but also on me. 
So that I might not have sorrow on sorrow. 
So I sent him eagerly,
so that seeing him 
you would rejoice again
and I might be without sorrow. 

So welcome him
in the Lord
with fullness of joy
and hold in honour such people
because 
for the work of the Christ
he came close to dying
risking his life
so that he could make up for your inability
to minister to me. 

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

Now, 
I hope, 
   in the Lord Jesus
to send Timothy
   shortly
to you
so that also I may be cheered up, 
by learning about your affairs,

For I have no one of ‘like soul’ (available)
  who genuinely
  will care about your affairs. 
For all the others pursue their own affairs,, 
not the affairs of Jesus of Christ

But you know his ‘proven-worth’
how 
as a son-for-a-father
he has served
with me, 
for the spread of the Good News. 

Therefore on the one hand
I hope to send this one swiftly
directly when I am clearer about my affairs

and on the other hand
I am confident
in the Lord
that I will be released  shortly.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

But even if I am poured-out-like-a-drink-offering
    on the ‘sacrificial service’  of your faith,
I rejoice
      and I rejoice with you all
likewise rejoice
and rejoice with me!

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)

Do everything without grumbling,
and arguing,
so that you will be pure
and innocent, 
children of God, 
unblemished
in the middle of a crooked
and perverse humanity ,
in which you shine as stars in the universe
holding fast to the word of life
so that I can boast  on the day of Christ, 
proof that I  have not run in vain
nor toiled in vain.

Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour,
where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.
Show me the course I should take.
Renew in me the gift of discernment,
so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go.
And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course,
even when the sea is rough and the waves are high,
knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name
we shall find comfort and peace.
Amen

Basil of Caesarea (c.329-379)

So then, my beloved, 
  just as you have always obeyed
         not only in my presence
        but now much more in my absence
     with fear and trembling
work out your own salvation. 

For God is the one who is working mightily 
in you all
the willing 
and the working
for the sake of his good pleasure.

Take from us,
O God, all pride and vanity,
all boasting and self-assertion,
and give us the true courage that shows itself in gentleness,
the true wisdom that shows itself in simplicity,
and the true power that shows itself in modesty.

Charles Kingsley

Think like this (care about others)
among yourselves
which (thinking) was also in Christ Jesus,
who
though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard being equal with God
as something to be exploited.
But  he  emptied  himself
having taken the form of a slave
being born in the likeness of human beings
and being found in the shape of a man
he humiliated himself
    by being obedient, to the point of death, 
 even death on a cross. 

On account of which 
God exalted him to the highest degree
that is he generously gave him the Name (high) above all names. 
so that in honour of  the name of Jesus
every knee should bend
-the heavenly beings
and on-the-earth beings
and under-the-earthly beings
and that the tongue of every person should acknowledge:
‘Jesus Christ is Lord’
to the glory of God the Father.

O thou, who art the light of the minds that know thee,
the life of the souls that love thee,
and the strength of the wills that serve thee;
help us so to know thee that we may truly love thee;
so to love thee that we may fully serve thee,
whom to serve is perfect freedom.
Amen