Journey Through The Bible
   Old Testament Reading: 2 Samuel 21-24
   New Testament Reading: Philippians 2

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).

“The humble person is not one who thinks meanly of himself; he simply does not think of himself at all!” Andrew Murray

Humility is that attribute that when you know you finally have it; it is then that you have lost it. The truly humble person knows themselves and accepts themselves. Then yields themselves to Christ to be a servant, to use all that they are and have for the glory of God and the good of others.

Paul gives the Philippian Believers three commands. First, do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit (v3a). Selfish ambition has a disastrous impact on the life of the church. Besides breaking the unity of the church, it leads to conceit, an empty glory. Those who exercise selfish ambition divert a glory that belongs to God. It is not the empty glory that comes from the selfish ambition that is to be sought, but rather the giving up of our rights that leads to a focus on God’s glory.

Second, in humility consider others as more important than yourselves (v3b). This is the mindset of those who are not conceited but who have the right attitude toward themselves and others. It’s not that everyone else is superior or more talented, but Christian love sees others as worthy of special treatment.

Finally, Paul says, everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others (v4). Looking to the interests of others rather than to one’s own is entirely opposed to the spirit of the world, where a man gets praise when he does well for himself. Instead, Paul says Believers are to be different. We are to adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited (v5-6).

Paul uses the example of Christ to enforce an appeal for unselfishness. As Christ willingly laid aside His heavenly glory to come to Earth and die, we should look beyond our own interests for the sake of others. Jesus said, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:43b-45).