Old Testament: 2 Kings 24-25
Poetry: Psalm 89
New Testament: Philippians 2
The second chapter of Philippians is a lesson in unity and behavior.
Conflict happens. Any time there are people gathered, there will be a difference in thinking. God gave us beautiful brains and the ability to reason and rationalize in different ways. He blessed us with the ability to form opinions. And those opinions are bound to differ.
Too often, though, we give our own opinions too much power. We allow them to shoulder their way into our relationships with great force and little apology and we let them overshadow the important things like love, compassion, tenderness, and humility.
Humility. It’s such an underrated quality in society. But which is more important: having your way, or being more Christ-like? Sounds like an easy answer, but it’s SO DIFFICULT to practice.
Have you ever allowed your opinions too much power? Have they ever kept you from displaying the humility of Christ? Is there a current relationship that could be improved if you showed more humility in the name of Jesus?
Verses 1-4 lay out such a heartfelt plea from Paul to the believers in Philippi. He begs them to be united.
He tells them, and now us, that if we have any blessings from being united with Christ, from his grace and his salvation, then we must be united with each other as believers. Value others above ourselves. We must lay our opinions to the side and focus on our job as Christians: to show others Christ and further his message.
In verses 5-11 he lays out the mindset of Jesus Christ – the one who had the ability to ask anything of God and have it granted to him, but instead chose to make himself a servant to others. Because Jesus loved that hard.
I lay aside my own opinions and preferences for my family all the time. It’s easy because I love them more than I love myself. I frequently do the same for my friends. But what about the church member or coworker or acquaintance or family member that I find “difficult”? Am I so willing to lay aside my opinions or preferences on how things “should be done” for them? Are you?
And yet that is what Christ asks of us. As a church body we are called to unite. And so many churches and Christians struggle with this. I struggle. I struggle so hard. When I should be loving hard. Like Jesus.
Do you get distracted by doing things your way? Does your method really matter in the grand scheme of spreading the gospel message? What relationships could be improved if you showed more humility? How could your faith and relationships be better if you placed Furthering the Kingdom over Getting Your Way?
Verses 12-30 sting a little bit for me. “Do everything without grumbling or arguing.” I like to call it “venting” but it’s really complaining. And I’m told not to. We are called to be united as Christ followers so that when we are out in this wicked world we can “shine among them like stars in the sky.”
The world is full of darkness and we are called to be stars. Paul asks us to show others love and humility, like Timothy and Epaphroditus. He asks that rather than look after our own interests, we look after the interests of Jesus Christ.
That’s so powerful: look after the interests of Jesus Christ.
My prayer for you today is that you are able to examine your relationships with others in full humility and see how you can place others before yourselves. I pray that we, as believers, can interact with one another in a way that will show the world Jesus Christ. I pray that we can all stop letting our differences get in the way of our purpose, and that we would instead focus on furthering the gospel message in unity. Blessings and love from your sister in Christ!
-Jenn Haynes
Seek Grow Love 