One of my classes is studying Philippians. I love, love Philippians. Actually, I realized that I love the part of Philippians that is joyful and encouraging. Come to think of it, I guess that is my attitude toward most of God's Word. Not that I don't love it all, I do because I love Him. I know that He is perfect and good and so is His Word. But when it comes to applying His Word, some parts are definitely easier and more fun than others. When I begin to think that way, God brings me back to the realization that it is not about me. It is not about what is fun or easy. My life is all about bringing Him glory. One of the ways I do that is by being obedient to what He tells me to do or not to do in His Word. Of course, that is impossible for me. But when I am yielded to Him, He does the work through me. I can't obey or have faith or anything without Him doing it through me.
So many times, when reading the Bible, we skim over parts that we have heard alot. A while back, God impressed upon me to read and study the Bible as if I had never read or heard it before. That has been life-changing. Back to Philippians - we are in Chapter 2 this week. I decided to memorize verse 3. "When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourself." NCV. Read that again. Wow! "When you do things" - uh, that pretty much includes everything we do. The NIV says "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit". So for starters, this verse is going to tell us what kind of attitude we need to have and not have when we do anything. Work? Taking care of our children? Dealing with our husband?......did I say "dealing", I meant to say "enjoying". Church? How we treat people who are not easy to love or easy to get along with or just plain get on our nerves? Yep, all of these.
Next it tells us to not let selfishness or pride be our guide. When doing the easy, fun parts of our day or when doing the very difficult parts of our day, we are to make sure that we are not guided by selfishness or pride. I began to think about times that I get angry or upset in different situations. There always seemed to be a way to justify my thoughts or actions, but when it comes down to it, every situation was handled in a wrong way because I was either being selfish or prideful - every time. God tells us to die to our self, not pamper it and make sure that it is treated the right way.
Then He tells us to be humble. Humility comes when we see who God really is and then see ourselves in comparison. The God of the universe compared to an ant. Being in God's presence will make us humble. It is the opposite of pride which is all about me. Once we have an attitude of humility, we are able to give more honor to others than to ourselves. Our natural response is to take care of number one. Don't let anyone tell you what to do. Don't allow anyone to treat you in a way that you don't deserve. Draw the attention to yourself. Complain when things aren't going your way. That is not the kind of life that brings glory to God though. Again it involves dying to our own desires, rights, and will.
When you really meditate on this verse for awhile and look at your life, you will probably find that you don't measure up. I certainly don't. Really, how many people do you know that live like that? How many people have you known in your life who live like that? I know a few now. I have known some in my life. It sounds impossible. It is. But with God all things are possible. If He has told us to live this way, then He expects us to. All we have to do is completely surrender to Him and allow Him to live this life through us. I wrote this verse on several different cards so I could read it over and over throughout the day. My prayer is that God will etch it into my mind and heart so that when I start to think or act in a way that doesn't line up with this verse, I will stop and think. Hopefully, I will make the right choice and let God live this verse through me.
Can you imagine what a different world we would live in if every Christian walked this verse out? God help us to bring You glory.
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