The Humility of Christ

"Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 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. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Philippians 2:1-11

I know most of us are probably pretty familiar with these verses. But my prayer for you this morning is this... that you would read these verses as if it was the first time in your life that you had ever heard them. Read the truth in these verses, and don't let the importance be lost to familiarity. Especially when it talks of Christ's attitude towards His role in the Father's plan.

How often do we feel like we are being "under-used" by God in our current position? That we have more potential, if only we could do "this thing," instead of serving where we are already at?

Jesus Christ, God in flesh, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped or attained, but rather HUMBLED HIMSELF. Does anyone else think that, since Jesus humbled Himself, perhaps we should learn to be humble as well???

How often do we, with or without intention, struggle for equality with God? Think about it... when we try to tell God that we would be better off serving somewhere other than where He has placed us, what are we saying? Essentially we're saying, "God, I know You put me here, but I think (implying that we somehow know better than God) that I would be more effective if I was serving over there."

Christ became obedient to the point of death! We have a hard time being obedient to the point of confrontation! Good grief! Am I saying this to condemn you? No! I am condemning myself just as much as I might be condemning anyone else. But we have Christ as a model. We are not condemned, even in our feeble attempts for power, because we have a patient Father and a faithful Intercessor, through Christ Jesus. Am I saying that we can stay in this state of mind? Again, No! We MUST model Christ! I am preaching to myself as much as to anyone else! I struggle daily with either modeling Christ, or making my own path.

What happens when we make our own paths, though? We lose our joy. We become frustrated. We make idols of our goals, instead of seeing the will of the Father, which is to bring glory to Him. We are, again perhaps un-intentionally, struggling to bring glory to ourselves through self-accomplishment.

Now... when we are working under the humility of the cross... it is impossible to lose sight of WHO receives the glory. It is impossible to be dissatisfied with our service, when we are serving because of the joy we have in our salvation. It is impossible to be proud of our accomplishments when we remember that our righteous acts are as filthy rags... our greatest works cannot save us. We come, humbly, because our Savior drug us from the pit...

My prayer for you, today, is that these words would fall afresh on your heart. That you would read and re-read them... They speak of the Body of believers, working together, and of Christ's example to us. Most importantly, they speak of the victory of Christ and of His glory. They prophesy of our worship of Him, and they tell of the future acknowledgment, by every single soul, that He is in fact LORD of all!

Grace and Peace, dear Friends!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .