Our scripture this morning is Philippians 2:3-5 (NLT).
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Paul has a sharp lesson for us here: our attitude is important to our work for Christ in the world. How we act and react affects our discipleship. Paul wrote this and several of his letters from prison, not usually considered a selling point. However, just as Jesus did, Paul accepted his situation and kept on doing the work he had been given.
Paul got past a problem many of us have, what other people think of us. This involves comparing, never a good exercise, and assuming we “know what they think”, as if we were mind readers. All of this plays into distracting us from our primary purpose, sharing God’s love with the world.
We read “you must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had”. In order to do that we must understand what He taught and did and why. If our love for Him is only based on success we are going to be disappointed. If our love for Him is dashed by failure, we need to re-examine His message. Jesus told us to keep going, no matter what we encounter.
Heavenly Father, You sent Jesus to save us all. Help us to see ourselves not as factions or groups but Your beloved children, all blessed and all created for a purpose. Amen.
