Friday, March 8, 2013

Walking in Selflessness


“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” –Philippians 2:3

Paul encouraged the early church in Philippi to be like him in their thinking and to go about community life, “Having the same love” and “being one in spirit.” Paul also requested the Philippians “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.” He requested they humbly value others above themselves and to not look to their own interests, but to the interests of the others (see Philippians 2:2-4).

As we study and work together in community as Christians, valuing and considering one another above our selves is very important. Like the early church, we want to be a community of love and honor who views everyone as valuable and treats everyone as children of God. We can value one another like this by showing honor.

Part of loving and honoring one another is respecting one another enough to be honest. This also means we do not take unfair advantage of others or succeed unjustly. It means we do not take what belongs to another. Finally, this means we hold one other accountable and encourage one another towards excellence and honor (Leviticus 19:11-19).

May we honor one another as Paul suggested by “Following God’s example as dearly loved children and [walking] in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2).

No comments:

Post a Comment