"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." (Philippians 2:3-4 NAS) *Charles R. Swindoll, Laugh Again, p.83
Take these two verses and divide them into three parts and we have a wonderful lesson on how to develop an unselfish attitude. First, do nothing from selfish motives, and secondly, we are to regard others as more important than ourselves. The third thing is to look out for the interests of others, as well as our own.* All of this is contrary to what the world teaches us. "Do it to them before they do it to you" and "Look out for number one." Humility and unselfishness are not words "upwardly mobile" people like to think about, very often.
Christ was the ultimate example of humility. He always chose to put the needs of other people before his own. He constantly made sure others were fed, rested, healed, and comforted. The verses following our target verse for today say these things about Jesus Christ, "although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, . . . emptied Himself, . . . taking the form of a bond-servant, . . . found in appearance as a man, . . . humbled Himself, . . . even to death on a cross." He did everything He could to make sure He took care of the "interests of others." As a result "God highly-exalted Him . . . so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow." (Phil. 2:5-8) God made Jesus the most "upwardly mobile" person ever to exist.
In becoming Christlike, we choose to do the things that Christ did. We have to become so concerned with the needs of others and helping them become the best they can be, that we lose ourselves in the process, or rather we lose our desire to always be first. We must remember God does choose some to be first and some to be last. "Humility is the acceptance of the place appointed by God, whether it be in the front or in the rear."
We must accept our place and do what we can to help others reach their place. "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." (Romans 12:3 NIV)
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