Philippians 2:1-11

COMMENTS

Today’s study includes the famous “attitude of Christ” passage, but that’s not what the Lord’s focus was for me today.

NOTES

Paul starts this passage with a plea for like-mindedness.  What’s interesting is that he relates that to:

1.     Encouragement from being united with Christ

2.     Comfort from His love

3.     Fellowship with the Spirit

4.     Tenderness and

5.     Compassion

He says that when we’re like-minded, we will have the “same love” and be “one in spirit and purpose”.

Lesson:  To be one with each other, we have to be one with Christ.

Profound, but the most profound lesson He had for me today was Phil. 2:4:

“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Not only your own interests.  I’ve always been taught that I should pretty much ignore my own needs and, instead, think of the needs of others.  But that’s not what this passage says.  It confirms that we should consider the interests of others; in fact, it immediately follows 2:3 which says that we should “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but….consider others better than [our]selves”.

However, verse 4 does NOT say what I was always taught—to ignore myself.  It says that I should consider NOT ONLY my own interests, implying that my own interests should be one consideration but not the only one.  This speaks to me so loudly because I’m in a period of recuperation following having given of myself (mainly to my elderly parents but also to ministry) for a period of about 6 hectic years.  I’m physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.  The common term is “burned out”.  I have nothing left to give.  On doctor’s orders, I’ve stopped pretty much everything.  I had to because, as I said, there’s nothing left.  But a part of me felt selfish and guilty.

Today, God told me it’s okay.