For me life is Christ and death is gain

Last night in my prayer time i was reading Philippians and chapter 1 verse 12 to 14 stuck out to me. It says:
I want you to know brothers that my situation has turned out rather to advance the gospel, so that my imprisonment has becojme rather well known in Christ throughout the whole praetorium and to the rest, and so that the majority of the brothers, having taken encouragement in the Lord from my imprisonment, dare more than ever to proclaim the word fearlessly.
reading this made me stop and check myself. Because of St. Paul's imprisonment the gospel spread and more people took courage to spread it. I wonder about myself, if I heard that one of the greatest proclaimers was imprisoned would I proclaim the gospel even more fearlessly? To tell the truth i dont know if I would. Fear hinders my life with Christ and seriously that is so lame. Nothing should get in the way of me fufilling my duty as a christian, much less fear. Later on in the reading is one of my favorite verses,
My eager expectation and hope is that i should be put to shame in any way, but in all boldness, bow as always Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ and death is gain.

I wonder how many of us can say that statement and it be true. I for one know that even thoughh i try, it is so easy to fail. I have heard people say that it was different back then, that it doesnt appyl to "real" life. And if you are one of those people you are right, but the difference is that it is easier now than it was then to proclaim the gospel; in many aspects. I need to continuously strive for holiness and for making my life truly Christ centered. We all do and praise God! I thank God that this isnt the best we can do in life, because if it was imagine how pathetic that would be. Praise God that he has the perfect plan for out lives so that we dont have to stumble around blinded. Well Thank You for reading!
God bless Ya'll!
Alyse