LIFE TOGETHER
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Opening Prayer
Lord, coming to your Word today, I ask that nothing will distract me from hearing your voice. Still my heart and help me to focus only on what you say to me.
Read PHILIPPIANS 2:1–4
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Imitating Christ’s Humility
2 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.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Give thanks for the unity you see in your church and ask God to give more of it.Paul bombards his hearers with unity language: ‘like-minded’, ‘the same love’, ‘one in spirit, and of one mind’ (v. 2). In a time when believers are opposed (1:28–30), mutual support is vital. Paul calls them to hold together through all God does for and in them, making a list of what God gives them (v 1). It is not, then, that the Philippians must manage to put up with each other: their unity flows from God’s love and generosity to them.
At the center of unity is humility (v. 3). In the ancient world, humility was not a virtue: the philosopher Epictetus wrote: ‘Who wishes to live … humbly? No one.’ The word is given a completely different connotation by the life, teaching, and humiliating death of Jesus (see 2:8), for Jesus valued others at a cost, to the extent of dying for us. Paul contrasts humility with ‘selfish ambition.’ Competitive self-promotion was normal in the Roman Empire, seeking honor, power, or wealth and looking down on those who didn’t have these things. Instead, humility is about other regard (v. 3), acting to benefit others (v. 4)—having a mindset that values others and being ready to support and enable them to live for Christ.
Apply
Reflect on how you might value others above yourself in your church, workplace, or home. What specific step(s) can you take to demonstrate this?
Closing prayer
Jesus, please give me wisdom to know when and how to show others your value that is greater than my own.
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