“3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” Philippians 2:3-4 NLT
Ouch! These words can hurt if we are honest with ourselves. Let’s break it down a bit…
“Don’t be selfish” – We are taught that from a very young age (I would hope). So that should be automatic, right? Am I selfish? Why, I do believe I am a lot of the time. Especially when I don’t need to be. Am I doing it consciously? No, not usually. Then why? Well, I can only speak for myself…I find myself very selfish where my husband is concerned. I really don’t like to share. He’s my best friend. When he’s had a long day away from us, at work or in class, I know he wants to relax and play with the kids for a while. I love this about him, but sometimes, especially when we’ve all been really busy, I can find myself thinking very selfish thoughts. Like, “I wish he’d come help me, I mean really, I’d love to play with the kids too, but then no one would ever get dinner made, or the dishes washed, or the laundry done, or…” well you get the idea. That is so wrong. Now, I would never say any of that out loud, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m thinking it, and so then, will probably act overly grumpy towards everyone for the rest of the day. INEXCUSABLE! And that is only one example.
“Don’t try to impress others” - Now, I don’t think Paul is saying that we shouldn’t do our best. We absolutely should. What he is saying is that we need to have the right heart about it. I can recall a time in my life, where I had a big issue with pride. I am a singer, and my first music teacher worked very hard to build my confidence. Well, I let it go a little too far. For a very long time, I thought there was just no onebetter than me. I would take it personally if I didn’t get the solo in the show, or if no one asked me to sing a special song. Well, I did learn my lesson…I am nothing! But still, I struggle with trying to impress others, for their praise. It’s a difficult interior struggle, and if I’m not in the Word consistently, it’s a real problem. I long for a humble heart. I don’t want people to tell me if I do a good job, it scares me, because I am so afraid I may fall back into that pride trap. Thank God above, I can give Him the glory for blessing me with my voice. I only ever want to use it for Him. —Did I lose my point? Don’t do things just for others to see. If that is why you do them, then leave them undone. Check your heart’s reasons.
“Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves” – This is more difficult than we would admit at times. We may consider ourselves humble people. And some of us may be, only we know our hearts. It is the second part of this verse that can get us…”think of others as better than yourselves.” Think about that homeless person you passed on the corner. Do you think of him has better than yourself, or do you judge all his life decisions and think you must be better than him. True, he may have made decisions that led to his current situation, then again, it could very well have been no fault of his. The point is that we must look at each person we come across through the Eyes of God. Try to see what He would see…isn’t that how we would want people to look at us. Not judge us because we don’t wear the latest trends, or drive the nicest car, or in my case, because my kids may still have remains of lunch on their faces. This leads nicely to verse 4…
“Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” – Many people work hard everyday, sacrificing many things, to climb the corporate ladder. Many of those people demolish others to get up that ladder, and never look back at the carnage they leave in their wake. Are we able to help others get ahead? Not thinking of ourselves. If you and a co-worker were up for the same promotion, would you fight to make yourself look good. Of course. But, would you also be honest about the hard work he or she was doing at the same time? Tough to think about. Are you willing to lend a helping hand to those who need it? As sons and daughters of the King, we should be.
This works well, in my head at least, with Ephesians 5:1-2 that I looked at yesterday. It all boils down to love. Can we love like Christ loves us?
Just a thought…
-De
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Philippians 2:3-4
September 18, 2009 by mrsmusicnerd
“3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” Philippians 2:3-4 NLT
Ouch! These words can hurt if we are honest with ourselves. Let’s break it down a bit…
“Don’t be selfish” – We are taught that from a very young age (I would hope). So that should be automatic, right? Am I selfish? Why, I do believe I am a lot of the time. Especially when I don’t need to be. Am I doing it consciously? No, not usually. Then why? Well, I can only speak for myself…I find myself very selfish where my husband is concerned. I really don’t like to share. He’s my best friend. When he’s had a long day away from us, at work or in class, I know he wants to relax and play with the kids for a while. I love this about him, but sometimes, especially when we’ve all been really busy, I can find myself thinking very selfish thoughts. Like, “I wish he’d come help me, I mean really, I’d love to play with the kids too, but then no one would ever get dinner made, or the dishes washed, or the laundry done, or…” well you get the idea. That is so wrong. Now, I would never say any of that out loud, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m thinking it, and so then, will probably act overly grumpy towards everyone for the rest of the day. INEXCUSABLE! And that is only one example.
“Don’t try to impress others” - Now, I don’t think Paul is saying that we shouldn’t do our best. We absolutely should. What he is saying is that we need to have the right heart about it. I can recall a time in my life, where I had a big issue with pride. I am a singer, and my first music teacher worked very hard to build my confidence. Well, I let it go a little too far. For a very long time, I thought there was just no onebetter than me. I would take it personally if I didn’t get the solo in the show, or if no one asked me to sing a special song. Well, I did learn my lesson…I am nothing! But still, I struggle with trying to impress others, for their praise. It’s a difficult interior struggle, and if I’m not in the Word consistently, it’s a real problem. I long for a humble heart. I don’t want people to tell me if I do a good job, it scares me, because I am so afraid I may fall back into that pride trap. Thank God above, I can give Him the glory for blessing me with my voice. I only ever want to use it for Him. —Did I lose my point? Don’t do things just for others to see. If that is why you do them, then leave them undone. Check your heart’s reasons.
“Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves” – This is more difficult than we would admit at times. We may consider ourselves humble people. And some of us may be, only we know our hearts. It is the second part of this verse that can get us…”think of others as better than yourselves.” Think about that homeless person you passed on the corner. Do you think of him has better than yourself, or do you judge all his life decisions and think you must be better than him. True, he may have made decisions that led to his current situation, then again, it could very well have been no fault of his. The point is that we must look at each person we come across through the Eyes of God. Try to see what He would see…isn’t that how we would want people to look at us. Not judge us because we don’t wear the latest trends, or drive the nicest car, or in my case, because my kids may still have remains of lunch on their faces. This leads nicely to verse 4…
“Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” – Many people work hard everyday, sacrificing many things, to climb the corporate ladder. Many of those people demolish others to get up that ladder, and never look back at the carnage they leave in their wake. Are we able to help others get ahead? Not thinking of ourselves. If you and a co-worker were up for the same promotion, would you fight to make yourself look good. Of course. But, would you also be honest about the hard work he or she was doing at the same time? Tough to think about. Are you willing to lend a helping hand to those who need it? As sons and daughters of the King, we should be.
This works well, in my head at least, with Ephesians 5:1-2 that I looked at yesterday. It all boils down to love. Can we love like Christ loves us?
Just a thought…
-De
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