Philippians 2:3-4

By January 5, 2012Philippians

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Paul doesn’t leave us any wiggle room here.  Nothing means nothing.  All of us come out of the womb focused on ourselves.  Some of the first words we learn are ‘me’ and ‘mine.’  The only way to overcome our inherent selfishness is to learn the way of agape.  Paul says the fruit of the Spirit is love or in the Greek, agape.  Agape is shown when I choose to set aside my self-interests to serve the best interests of another no matter how much it costs me and no matter how the person treats me in return.  This is the love the God demonstrated toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  This is the kind of love that unifies the body of Christ.  Paul longed to hear that the believers in Philippi were unified in this love.  How does humility help us do this?  Humility is an attitude of total dependence on God.  Jesus tells us that without Him we can do nothing.  The only way we can love like He loves us is to rest and receive His love and then let it flow through us to those around us.  Beloved, by faith receive His love today and let it flow through you to everyone you meet!