One more look at Philippians 2:1-11, because it’s that important!
[An 11 min. discussion of the first 11 verses of Philippians 2]
Philippians: Shine Like Stars – DAY 35
Family Discussions for a New School Year
*This is DAY 35. Click here for all days.
DAY 35/THURSDAY
Philippians 2:1-11
He Humbled Himself
“Therefore 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, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage;
7rather, He made Himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!9Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
Philippians 2:1-11 (NIV)
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”
*For other translations, click here.
Verse-by-Verse Review
This passage of Scripture is a powerful description of Christ & how He humbled Himself in obedience to the Father to save us, which is why I have spent 11 days on it! Today we’ll wrap up our focus on Philippians 2:1-11, starting verse-by-verse.
Blessed Benefits
“Therefore 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 (NIV)
We have benefitted from being united with Christ in more ways than we now know or can fully comprehend. These benefits include encouragement, comfort, sharing in the Holy Spirit, tenderness & compassion.
Like, Same, One
“…then make my (Paul’s) joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”
Philippians 2:2 (NIV)
Because we are united with Christ, we are connected by the Holy Spirit with all believers who are also united with Him. We can be like-minded, have the same love, be one in spirit, and be of one mind.
No Selfishness
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.”
Philippians 2:3a (NIV)
Our sinful nature, also known as our flesh, is all about self. It is natural for the flesh to “look out for #1” and think we are the center of the universe. We may not even realize we are thinking of ourselves first because it comes so naturally to us!
It is good for us to daily ask ourselves why we are doing what we’re doing. Even good things can be done for selfish reasons, not the least of which is to make ourselves look good. Doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit is quite a challenge!
Effort for Others
“Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
Philippians 2:3b-4 (NIV)
Valuing others above ourselves takes effort. Not looking to our own interests takes intentionality. We have the ability for humility from our Savior in the Person of the Holy Spirit within us; however, it is up to us to use it!
Starve the Flesh; Feed the Spirit
Since the humility needed to value others above ourselves does not come naturally, we must change our spiritual diets, starving our flesh (sin nature) and feeding our spirits.
How does one starve their flesh? First, don’t provide yourself opportunities to indulge your self. If you know an area of particular personal weakness, make plans to avoid it. When you catch yourself putting self first, stop right then, in the moment! I’ve found that memorizing a few Bible verses that address my weak areas really helps in these situations.
How does one feed their spirit? Scripture, Scripture, and more Scripture! That’s the first step! Add prayer, especially specific prayers that address areas in which you need to mature, and action — sacrificial serving will feed your spirit by heaping spoonfuls!
Think Like Jesus
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…”
Philippians 2:5 (NIV)
To be Christ-like, we must think like Jesus, setting our minds as He did: on humble obedience to God, always looking to eternity instead of merely the temporary.
Q: How do we know we can do this?
A: We have the mind of Christ!
“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
14The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16for,
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct Him?’ (Isaiah 40:13).But we have the mind of Christ.”
I Corinthians 2:10b-16 (NIV)
As we saw on DAY 31,
“Jesus’ mind was not set on Himself, on getting His own advantage, or on protecting and building up His reputation. His mind was set on humble obedience to the Father.”
DAY 31: Have the Same Mindset as Christ Jesus
Two Helpful Verses
Two verses always come to my mind when I think about this:
- John 4:34 &
- Colossians 3:2.
“Meanwhile His disciples urged Him (Jesus), ‘Rabbi, eat something.’
32But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’
33Then His disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought Him food?’
34‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.'”
John 4:31-34 (NIV)
We need to prioritize in the same way that Jesus does! Doing God’s will was more important to Him than having food to eat. *gulp* Pause a moment and reflect on that!
The Father’s will was spiritual food to Jesus: the only thing that would fill & satisfy Him. We need to desire to be filled (& fulfilled!) by doing the Father’s will more than we desire our next meal or snack. The good news: God can change our hearts as we continue to surrender daily to Him.
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Colossians 3:2 (NIV)
Our minds do not have to be set on earthly things — thanks to our flesh (our sin nature), that’s automatic. We do have to actively choose to set our minds on things above, the things of God’s kingdom, day after day after day, moment by moment. The good news: The more often we choose to think about eternal things “above,” the less we will have to choose to do it.
He Humbled Himself
“Who, being in very nature God,
Philippians 2:6-8 (NIV)
did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage;
7rather, He made Himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!”
Unlike Jesus, we are not “in very nature God.” We are made in His image, but we cannot claim equality with God. And yet, we often try to be the “god” of our own lives, don’t we? Not even Jesus did that, and He had every right!
Here’s what Jesus did:
He…
- emptied Himself (ESV);
- gave up His divine privileges (NLT);
- made Himself nothing (NIV);
- made Himself of no reputation (NKJV/KJV).
*DAY 31: Have the Same Mindset as Christ Jesus
Also, He…
- took the very nature of a servant,
- looked like any other man,
- humbled Himself (unlike any other man!), &
- obeyed God to death — humiliating, undeserved death by crucifixion.
And here’s (some of) what Jesus told us about…
Taking the Nature of a Servant
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:26b-28 (NIV)
Appearances
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven…
Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:1,4 (NIV)
Humility
“No one is good—except God alone.”
Mark 10:18b (NIV)
Obedience
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Luke 11:28 (NIV)
“Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love them, and We will come to them and make Our home with them. 24Anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.”
John 14:23-24 (NIV)
Death
“Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me. 24For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it.”
Luke 9:23-24 (NIV)
A Paraphrase-Appropriate Moment
I’d like to end today’s discussion with The Message paraphrase of Philippians 2:1-11.
Remember,
“Paraphrases, such as the NLT or The Message, attempt to take the original language and ask, ‘What does it mean?’ They can be useful but should be regarded as commentary (man’s interpretation of God’s words). Paraphrases are best consulted after careful study of an actual translation.”
Jen Wilkin, Women of the Word, p.94 (2014)
Jesus’ Selfless, Obedient Life & Death
21-4“If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if His love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of Himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of Himself that He had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, He stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, He lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9-11Because of that obedience, God lifted Him high and honored Him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that He is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:1-11 (MSG)
DAY 35/THURSDAY Prayer
Father God,
Thank You for Your Word.
Day by day, help us to learn & live the humility of Jesus Christ.
Moment by moment, may we choose humble obedience to You rather than the self-centered rebellion of “pushing our way to the front,” sweet-talking our way to the top, being obsessed with getting our own advantage, clinging to the advantages of status, or trying to claim special privileges.
Change our hearts, O God; may we humble ourselves as He humbled Himself.
In His name,
Amen.
DAY 35: Paul described Christ to the Philippian believers, specifically how He humbled Himself to save us.