Looking to the Interests of Others

November 14, 2018

Looking to the Interests of Others

“. . . in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”

Philippians 2:3b-4 (NRSV)

Philippians 2:1-4

Paul begins Chapter Two with a call for unity within the church. At first glance, his call for unity may seem over the top, way too unrealistic for the diversity of people who come together as the church: “being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” (Philippians 2:2). In the next passage, Paul will elaborate on how he believes his call is totally realistic, but in verse one, he has laid the foundation for unity within the Body of Christ: “if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion” (Philippians 2:1). This is another way to think of the fruit of the Spirit Paul described in Galatians 5:22-23. The writer of Hebrews captured this same thought when he wrote, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2a). When we stay completely focused on Jesus, everything will fall into its proper place.

One of the issues facing Christianity in 21^st Century America is the notion that the Christian faith is something we can add on to our existing life, fitting it in where we can without too much inconvenience. Paul completely dispels that notion in verse four: “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”

Paul makes clear that the claim Jesus has on his followers is total. When we take seriously the self-sacrificing way of life that Jesus sets before us, we may seek comfort in Brennan Manning’s assertion that “God loves us unconditionally, just as we are; not as we should be. Because no one is as they should be.” (All is Grace by Brennan Manning) Yes and Amen.

My Takeaway: However, we never want to lose sight of God’s goal for us, because God never, ever does: “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”

Sē’lah

Alex

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.