Humble Yourselves

September 13

Isaiah 14-16

Psalm 104:10-15

Proverbs 22:22-23

Philippians 2:1-11

Humble Yourselves

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others. 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 a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:3-8 NIV

I realize I refer to humility a lot. That probably means that God is working on me in this area. My process when I write these devotions is that I read all the passages for the day, and I pray about them and ask God to show me which one He wants me to focus on for the devotional. It seems that whenever there is a passage about humility, that is the one that screams out at me. This one is definitely an ouch! Do NOTHING out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. NOTHING. Ouch! Value others more than I value myself. Ouch! Look out for the interests of others instead of looking out for my own interests! Ouch! I want to think I do that, but do I really? This gets at not only my actions, but my motives behind my actions. So, when I do things for others am I doing it so they will like me or think highly of me? What is my motive? Am I doing it because I want to exalt them and value them and honor them? Or am I doing it to bring honor to me? Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

In my relationships with others, I am instructed to have the mindset of Christ. Jesus was God. He was equal to God. He could have come to Earth, announced He was the Messiah, and taken over. He could have made Himself King and ruled over everyone. But that is not what He chose to do. His love for us was more important than getting what He deserved. He humbled Himself willingly, coming as a servant and offered Himself as a sacrifice in my place. His motive was love. So, in my relationships, I am to have that same mindset. My motive must be love. Instead of thinking about what I want or think I “deserve,” I need to focus on my love for them and what I can do to show that love to them. If I am focused on others, God will take care of me. I don’t have to worry about myself because God loves me more than anyone else possibly could and He is looking out for me. I can trust His love for me and so that frees me up to love others humbly and lavishly. Oh, how I want to follow His example in this. I fear that I fall very short of the mark. My prayer is that Christ would do this work in me. I pray that I would humble myself so that He does not have to humble me.