Philippians 2:3-4–Daily Scripture Reading and Meditation

Posted by Seth on Dec 7, 2009 in Bible Study, Daily Devotions |

Philippians 2:3-4–Daily Scripture Reading and Meditation

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Welcome to today’s Daily Scripture Reading and Meditation covering Philippians 2:3-4 wherein we discover our need for humility and others’ need of the blessings we might bring.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

I’ve often mused about how tricky we people can be. There are some who really seem to have pretty well mastered the art of truly, authentically, thinking more highly of others than themselves. Those are the people you feel you can trust your heart with. But this ability that those few individuals have certainly isn’t something that comes naturally. Attitudes of rivalry and conceit can be hidden so well and can even develop into an underlying default mode of operation that becomes hardly even recognizable to the one committing these sins. Let’s face it, we spend a good amount of time looking for ways to work things out to our advantage; it’s all about keeping control. The difficulty here is that there’s certainly nothing wrong with making plans, growing in efficiency, and looking for new ways to get all the things done our list with the least interruption possible. Rearranging the stuff in our lives so that the stuff doesn’t end up getting the best of us is good. We’ve crossed the line though when we start putting people in the “stuff” category, aimed at getting ahead of others with the idea that we deserve better than them. This is what Paul was teaching against. The idea is that instead of holding ourselves high, using the heads of others to keep ourselves propped up, we are to put ourselves low (as Christ did) and work at pulling people out of the muck of life that they’ve gotten caught in. It isn’t that we’re supposed to have an inferiority complex or work at getting one for we are all ultimately of equal value. The point is that we do what Christ did; He shared equality with God, but in love and for God’s glory, humbled Himself.

Then also, the command is not that we intentionally don’t take care of the needs we have, but that we are continually, at the same time, looking for ways to serve others. It might be that we start with our family (if that is a place of neglect in any way whatsoever) and then continue to move our eyes outward. The opportunities are endless and usually abundant right under our noses. May God give us the strength and work the transformation needed in each of us toward a position of greater humility and increased interest in the interests of others.

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