Phi 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
A man who has something to live for will strive to live a meaningful life. For Paul to say “For me to live is Christ“, Gal 2:20 brings clarity to it’s meaning, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, …” Though crucified which means death, Paul was alive in Christ the means for his living. We therefore live because He lives, Acts 17:28 “for in Him we live and move and have our being, ...; We work because He works through us, Gal 2:8-9, Phi 1:6, 4:13, 1Cor 15:9-10. We know Him because we are known by Him, Gal 4:9. We pray because He prays through us, Rom 8:26. Our zest for living ought to be to know, love, follow and advance His kingdom.
To be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord, 2Co 5:8 is a reflection of “... to die is gain“. The main gain is to be with Christ. The other gains are to escape the present troubles, distresses, diseases, loses, disappointments, oppressions, persecutions, sin, doubts, fears, temptations etc. We live by dying, therefore the glory of Christ ought to be the end of our life. Mar 8:35 “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.“