Put the interests of others above your interests.

H- ^[X] Philippians 2:3-8…³ Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. NASB

E- Vv.3-5…Paul sets the standard for Disciples ^[A] to relate to other people. His standard is totally opposite from the world’s standard of “look out for yourself first”. Instead, Disciples are “with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves.” To accomplish this we will look out for our own and others personal interests. How to balance the conflicting interests is to ” ⁵ have the attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus”.

Vv.6-8…Describes the attitude of Jesus. [1] Jesus was eternal God, who was, who is, and who will be. However, He did not consider His position in the universe as one He had to hold to. He willingly obeyed the will of God the Father and came to earth as a servant, born as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem. The family lived in Nazareth, a lowly unimportant little village. There he grew up with His brothers and sisters working in Joseph’s carpenter shop until He was 30 years old. 

But then came the hardest part, rejection by the Jewish people. He voluntarily ” ^8b humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.” The hard part was not the physical pain and abuse but the redemption of the wrath of God for the sin of all people who ever lived on earth. In 3 hours the day turned to night and He took on Himself the wrath of God for the sin of maybe 30-60 billion people. 

That is the humble example Jesus set for us. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit in us can we even persevere to ” ⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus”.

A- ^[X] I am overwhelmed with the challenge in this scripture.

R- O God give me the humility, wisdom, strength, power, and Your presence to persevere with all my body and soul to obey the command in v.5.

Henry Luke      To receive my daily blog posts scroll to “Follow” and add your email. Disclaimer: My Personal Journey by Henry Luke has limited control over any advertising that may appear on this blog post and receives no payment for it. Ads & their links come from Word Press.

[Notes]: A- [1] For how to have peace with God and become a Disciple ^[Y] click here, [2] for how to have the peace of God and grow as a Disciple click here, and [3] for how to teach Disciples to be Disciple-makers click here; 

X- 4 steps in The H.E.A.R method of Bible study and worship; Y- “Disciples” or “Christians”?;  Z- For the name, I normally use for the Lord Jesus Christ, click here.