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!
BE BLESSED!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment