Sunday, August 9, 2015

Stay Humble

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Philippians 2:3  

As a child of God, one of the biggest signs of maturity is how you deal with situations and people… Just as Jesus made it clear that He wants you to give from your heart, Paul reminds the church of Philippi that we are to strive to do things out of love and not out of strife, which is friction, discord or rivalry… How do you respond when someone ask you to do something, do you act like it is the end of the world, do you pout and let out a despairing cry? This letter to the church of Philippi urges the true disciple to focus on living for God and not worldly respect! There are two main points that we must understand when it comes to dealing with things through strife… The bible says that we aren’t suppose to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing, this simple means that we are to be about the work of God without worrying making sure that people see all that we do… First, many of us have lost sight of humbling ourselves before the Lord and exalting God through our living. Instead, we have wanted to make sure that everyone and their mother knows what we have been asked to do or how difficult people are making our lives… 

We will throw our hands up with a massive sigh as if to say that this is a ton of bricks which have been placed upon our shoulders. The second thing to this is that we try to draw attention to ourselves so that the people around us will praise our efforts… Jesus said wherever your treasures are there your heart will be… If you are focused on pleasing men and seeking their approval, you have lost sight of God and His approval which is the only one that matters… Paul says to us today that we need to stop acting foolish, stop looking for physical gain and popularity (vainglory); instead, we need to be focused on understanding what being a child of God in tells. We are called to lift each other up (not tear each other down), but in lifting each other we are to do it without murmurings or disputes… Paul says we are to be in a lowly state; this calls for you to check your ego at the door, this informs me that I must examine the motives as to why have acted and make sure that in all that I do God is glorified and not me… Remember Paul was faced a challenge with the church of Corinth, people had begun to follow Him instead of Christ and Paul was quick to refocus them toward God and not man… Let us learn from Paul and remember that we aren’t hear to please man, we aren’t here to be put on a pedestal, we have been given a chance on this earth through God’s grace and must live accordingly… Even though Paul dealt with people wanting to boast His ego; we have no better example to follow when it comes to this topic than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… 

Let us examine Christ when He came to this earth, what if He throw His hands up when He saw the cross that He would have to carry and be strung out on? What if He nagged and complained about all the people who asked for healing and cleansing? What if Jesus was looking for vainglory, so He started to adhere to the false teaching of the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees? More importantly, what if Jesus decided to forgo the cross because there were no people on earth worthy of His sacrifice… This is what Paul is talking about today, Christ lowered Himself and nobody was worthy of His offering, we must have a (n) attitude that will allow us to help others even when they may not deserve it, we must be able to lay aside malice and take steps toward fulfilling the desires that God has for our lives, we must stop seeking materials and elevate our minds spiritually… If Jesus would have taken this approach, you and I wouldn’t have the life that we enjoy at this present day… In short, we would not be here and heaven would not be a possibility… The bible says that just as a sheep before His shearers is silent, He never said a mumbling word! Christ didn’t complain, He didn’t call attention to all the good deeds that He did (remember He constantly told those He healed to keep silent), so Paul tells us today be focused on God, help those in need, and witness to the lost and confused! Most importantly remember that God sees your deeds, so you don’t need to broadcast them all over the place!

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!

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