Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.Philippians 2:1-11
Can we be real for a minute?
Our culture today is very “me” centered. We’re spending a disproportionate amount of time getting to know who we are and planning what we want life to look like, filling social media with our accomplishments, and looking for ways to be famous… important…happy. If we’re honest, a lot of our lives are all about our own elevation. The problem is, self-centered, me first living isn’t really very fulfilling.
Paul writes here that with Jesus things are different. I mean check it out, even though He has every right to make everything all about Him, and even though he deserves all the attention, accolades, and affection (because He’s the Son of God), He chooses instead to lay his life down for us. For you. For me. And because Jesus chose to serve us by laying down his own life for us, God raised Him up to the place He deserves! Jesus trusted God would take care of Him, and that’s why He was free to care for us.
You see, when you trust God for everything, you can give away anything! When you know God will take care of you, you are free to truly care for others and experience the purpose, joy, peace, and hope that’s found in the humble posture of serving others above yourself. That’s what Jesus modeled for us and that’s what Jesus invites us to experience in Him.
What is one way you could humble yourself by putting someone else’s needs above your own today?
