2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
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.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
- Philippians 2 v 1-11 (New Living Translation)
I read the passage above sometime last week, and it has really stuck with me all week, especially verses 6-8. I've been reflecting a lot lately about times in my life when I know that I'm right about something, and someone else disagrees, how I try to prove to them, that I really am right. Or when someone thinks something about me that is not true, I get upset and want them to see the truth of who I am.
Yet, in the passage above, it is amazing to see the extent of humility that Jesus carried, that though He was God, He was willing not only to be human but also to publicly die the death of a common criminal. I find that so incredible, and I realise how far I am, from walking in the humility that Jesus walked in.
Is my heart tender and compassionate? Or is it more concerned with how others see me?
O Father, please give me a tender and compassionate heart!
I've also been reading Colossians the last couple of days and in addition to the passage that I mentioned in my last post, below is another passage that has stuck with me, may you find them encouraging... and may you find Christ and hear the good news, if you don't already know Him.
Lots of love, Ash x
19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.
22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
- Colossians 1 v 19-23 (New Living Translation)
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