Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Year 8, Day 184: Philippians 2


Theological Commentary: Click Here



Philippians 2 takes us right back to where we left off yesterday.  If our focus is others and their relationship with God, how can we act selfishly?  How can we live lives making others angry, inviting others to sin, or doing other things with ourselves at the core of the gain?



Then Paul makes it plain that he is speaking the truth.  Look at God Himself.  What is His example?  God sent His Son to us.  Yet, His Son didn’t come here to boss us around and show us how much better He was.  His Son came to point us to the Father and then die for our sake so that we can get to the Father.  God Himself is a God of self-sacrifice.  He didn’t do things with Himself in mind, He did things with others in mind.



In the example of Christ, we see that Paul is right.  If we are following Christ, we should be like Him.  If we are like Him, we should live like Him.  We should think of others.  We should do things that bring people closer to the Father, not drive them further from Him.



There’s another dynamic to what’s been discussed.  Not only can we look into the hearts of others by looking into their actions, but even more importantly we can see into our own hearts.  When we stop and see what we are actually doing, it gives us the ability to see into our heart as God sees us.



When I look through my actions and into my heart, what do I see?  Do I see a person who is primarily about manipulating others so that I get what I want?  Do I see a person who doesn’t care about others and does whatever it takes to push them away so I am left alone?  Or do I see a person who embraces the needs and concerns of the people around him in order to show the love of God as deeply as possible?



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