Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
After a few questions, many of us have no problem sharing our thoughts or ideas on any subject. This is a beautiful part of the way God created us. Our minds can think creatively or critically depending on what we need. But this beautiful gift from God gives way to sin when we start to make much of our own opinion; when our thoughts start to become more important than listening; when we start to fight for being right instead of fighting for unity; when we start to forget about the people around us and put ourselves first.
What Paul encouraged the Philippian church to do in this passage feels so unnatural to us. It feels strange to look out for others because we wonder who will look out for us. We worry that to consider one another as more important than ourselves could mean losing ourselves in the process. This way of loving others is only possible because we have a God who cares for our needs. When we are satisfied in Him, we have more bandwidth to serve others than we ever could have on our own. When we try to serve on our own, we get burned out, but when we are abiding in Christ, we can live with a view that others are more important. God has cared for our greatest needs and will continue to change the way we see the people around us and provide us with everything we need to love them well.
- What would it look like to consider others more important than yourself? What would change from the way you live right now?
- Who has been an example to you of a sacrificial and selfless person? How has that been formative for you?
- Pray and ask God to change your heart to be satisfied in Him so that you can live serving others through His strength.
