DEVOTION – DAY 426

Philippians 2:5-8 “Be Humble”

Philippians 2:5-8 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross.”

It is natural for people to want to talk about themselves and their achievements. It is natural for people to think highly of themselves. But in contrast, the apostle Paul encouraged Christians to choose to be humble. And the example of humility is the Lord Jesus Christ. In Phil. 2:6-8, Paul sets out why Jesus Christ is a model of humility. In v6, Paul declared that Jesus is fully God. Because Jesus is God, He has the status, qualities and power that only God has. Jesus had all these privileges before He came to earth to be born as man. Yet, He was willing to set aside His glory and deity, and to take on the humbling role of being born an ordinary human being, and to be a servant (v7). In v8, Jesus took on all the characteristics and limitations that came with being born a human being and He was willing to die on the cross – the worst form of execution reserved for the worst kinds of criminals, even though He had never done anything wrong. Thus, He is our best example of humility. Paul encouraged Christians to have Jesus’ attitude of self-sacrificing humility and love for others (v5). Paul encouraged Christians not to have worldly mindsets that encourages people to be proud of themselves and their achievements, but to be humble like Christ.

We should all follow this call to be humble. However, we sometimes come across people in church who wants to park their cars within the church compound despite limited parking facilities, because they think they deserve the privilege. They either serve in church, or they are rich, or they have status and so they want a parking bay. We sometimes see people choosing whom they want to mix with socially in church, because they are for the same social background. They forget that Jesus Christ mixed with all social classes because He had a heart for people. Jesus loved people regardless of their status. We see people helping themselves to food at church gatherings but forgetting to clear the plates and cutlery after use. They expect that someone would be doing the clearing and cleaning after them. They have forgotten the value of serving and instead, they preferred to be served. Let us all be reminded that these are examples of selfish and prideful attitudes and are the opposite of Christ-like humility. Let us be reminded that the Bible calls us to imitate the humility of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us learn to serve and love others and to be humble.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we worship you for you are loving, full of grace. Please help us to be loving and humble towards others. May there be no place for selfishness and pride in our lives. We pray this in the great name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Questions

  1. What are some examples of pride and selfishness do you see in your own lives today? 
  2. How can you be more humble and less selfish in your dealings with others? How can you be more loving to others? Share.
  3. Jesus obediently set aside His own deity for a time. In what ways are you willing to set aside your rights in order to serve and love others? 
  4. What new areas is the Lord asking you to humbly serve others?